LIFE    AND   MEMORIALS 


DANIEL    WEBSTER, 


FROM    THE    NEW-YORK    DAILY    TIMES 

\       Uv/tr 


TWO  VOLS.  IN  ONE. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.   APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

846    &    848    BROADWAY, 
M.DOOO.LVIII. 


ENTBEBD  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New-York. 


LIFE   AND    MEMORIALS 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


FROM    THE    NEW-YORK    DAILY    TIMES. 


N/vppc, 

i.  rrr 


NEW  YORK : 
D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY, 

846    &    348    BROADWAY, 
M.DOOO.LVIII. 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New-York. 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  Personal  Memorials  which  compose  so  large  a 
portion  of  these  volumes,  are  from  the  pen  of  Gen. 
S.  P.  Lyman,  whose  intimate  and  confidential  rela 
tions  with  Mr.  Webster  afford  a  sufficient  guarantee 
for  their,  authenticity.  They  are  believed  by  the 
publishers  to  embrace  a  more  copious  collection  of 
original  and  interesting  memoranda,  concerning  the 
life  and  character  of  the  great  Statesman  whose  re 
cent  death  has  created  so  deep  a  sense  of  bereave 
ment  throughout  the  country,  than  has  hitherto  been 
given  to  the  world.  Some  of  these  papers  appeared 
some  years  since  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser  and 
the  Courier  &  Enquirer  ;  and  were  revised  and  great 
ly  tended  for  the  Daily  Times,  from  which  they  are 
now  reprinted  under  the  author's  supervision.  The 
biograplr  -1  sketch  is  from  the  Times,  in  which  it 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT. 


appeared  on  the  day  after  Mr.  Webster's  decease  :  the 
miscellaneous   anecdotes  in  the  sequel,  all  of  which 

are  of  a  striking  character,  and  well  worthy  of  pre- 

# 
servation,  are  credited  to  their  various  sources. 

NEW-YORK,  Dec.  1852. 


j  t 

UNIVERSITY   < 

ALL 

CONTENTS.-VOL    I 


FACE. 

MEMOIR  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  BY  H.  J.  RAYMOND  5 

MB.  WEBSTEB  IN  CONGRESS 19 

DEBATE  WITH  HAYNE 32 

MR.  WEBSTER  AND  NULLIFICATION 69 

THE  BANK  CONTROVERSY 85 

MR.  WEBSTER  AS  SECRETARY  OF  STATE 94 

"LEADER"  FROM  THE  NEW-YORK  DAILY  TIMES 
ON  THE  DEATH  OF  MR.  WEBSTER 135 

MEMORIALS  OF  MR.  WEBSTER,  IN  A  SERIES  OF 
LETTERS  FROM  ELMS  FARM  AND  MARSHFIELD, 
BY  S.  P.  LYMAN 147 

A  TRIP  TO  NEW  HAMPSHIRE— MR.  WEBSTER'S  FARM  ON 

THE  MERRIMACK 147 

DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  FATHER 160 

BIRTH-PLACE  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER— His  BROTHERS  AND 

SISTERS 170 

DANIEL  WEBSTER  IN  HIS  INFANCY  AND  BOYHOOD 182 

DANIEL  WEBSTER  A  BOY — OUT-DOOR  SPORTS — FIRST 
TiME  HE  READ  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES..  190 


CONTENTS. 


THOS.  W.  THOMPSON — LAW  OFFICE — LATIN  GRAMMAR — 
REASONS  FOF  GOING  TO  AN  ACADEMY — GOES  TO  EXETER 
— DR.  ABBOTT 200 

MR.  WEBSTER  TEACHES  A  SELECT  SCHOOL— A  FROLIC— 
EEV.  SAMUEL  WOOD — PREPARES  FOR  COLLEGE — ENTERS 
DARTMOUTH „ 211 

ORATION  AT  HANOVER,  N.  H.,  ON  THE  FOURTH  OF  JULY, 
1800 230 

MR.  WEBSTER  IN  COLLEGE — His  STUDIES  THE  FOURTH 
YEAR — PERSONAL  APPEARANCE — His  EULOGY  ON  THE 
DEATH  OF  A  CLASSMATE — COMMENCEMENT — His  CLASS 
MATES — PERFORMANCE — Is  MADE  BACHELOR  OF  ARTS — 
TAKES  LEAVE 244 

MR.  WEBSTER  is  PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  FRYEBURG  ACADEMY 
•—STUDIES  LAW  WITH  THOS.  W.  THOMPSON  . .  . .  254= 


MEMORIALS  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER, 


DANIEL  WEBSTER,  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  IN 
THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES,  died  on 
Sunday  morning,   October    24th,  at  3  o'clock,   sur 
rounded  by  his  family  and  friends,  at  his  home  in 
Marshfield.     He  had  repaired  thither,  from  the  la 
bors  and  cares  of  his  official  position  at  Washington, 
in  consequence  of  failing  health  some  weeks  before ; 
but  it  was  not  until  ten  days  before  his  decease,  that 
his  medical  attendants  pronounced  his  recovery  hope 
less.     His  last  hours  comported  well  with  the  calm 
dignity  and  the  imposing  grandeur  of  his  character 
and  his  life.    The  summons  of  Death  was  heard  with 
the  same  serenity,  and  obeyed  with  the  same  prompt 
submission,  with  which  every  call  of  Duty  during  his 
life  had  been  answered  and  met.     Thus  has  closed 
the  most  illustrious  career  which  has  yet  graced  the 
civil  history  of  this  Republic.     It  closed  as  was  fit 
ting,  away  from  the  anxieties  and  responsibilities  of 
official  place,  in  the  midst  of  the  sanctities  and  affec 
tions  of  Home.     That  great  light,  from   which   ra 
diance  and  warmth,  and  all  strengthening  influences, 
have  so  long  been  shed  upon  his  country,  has  disap- 


MEMORIALS    OF 


peared,  not  by  any  sudden  eclipse  of  its  meridian 
glory,  but  by  the  natural  decline  from  its  lofty  course, 
in  the  full  but  mellowed  radiance  of  its  advanced 
hours.  For  the  instruction  and  guidance  which  we 
have  been  accustomed  to  find  in  his  presence  and  his 
public  acts,  the  country  must  now  recur  to  the  re 
cords  of  history,  and  to  those  matchless  productions 
of  his  genius  which  he  has  bequeathed  to  the  use  and 
the  care  of  the  coming  generations. 

A  great  English  dramatist,  in  closing  a  preface 
to  the  collected  works  of  two  of  his  cotemporaries, 
one  of  whom  was  his  intimate  friend,  pronounces  at 
once  a  eulogy  upon  their  character,  and  an  interdict 
upon  all  who  should  attempt  to  hold  it  up  to  the  ad 
miration  of  the  world,  by  declaring  that  "  he  must  be 
a  bold  man  that  dares  undertake  to  write  their  lives." 
The  exigencies  of  journalism  leave  little  room  to 
consult  the  proprieties  which  would  deter  even  so 
consummate  a  genius  as  Shirley  from  writing  the 
biographies  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  Fortu 
nately,  however,  its  aims  are  not  so  lofty  as  to  render 
failure  in  the  attempt  to  reach  them,  an  offence  be 
yond  the  scope  of  charitable  consideration.  And  al 
though  few  men  of  modern  times  take  higher  rank 
than  Daniel  Webster  among  those  "  worthy  person 
ages  that  deserve  better  than  dispersed  report  or 
barren  eulogies," — and  although  he  who  shall  give  to 
the  world  an  adequate  and  satisfactory  account  of  that 
long  and  laborious  life,  which  has  just  come  to  a 
close,  will  render  a  service  to  the  country  and  the 
world,  which  even  the  high  praise  of  Biography,  by 
Lord  Bacon,  could  not  extol  too  much, — the  ambi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


tion  of  the  Journalist  is  simply  to  be  useful  in  a 
smaller  way,  and  to  supply  such  general  knowledge 
of  the  great  deceased,  as  may  awaken  kindly  recol 
lections  of  what  he  has  done,  and  thus  meet  the  crav 
ing  which  bereavement  always  creates  in  the  human 
heart.  We  shall  have  accomplished,  therefore,  all 
we  can  hope  to  do,  in  the  few  hours  that  remain  for 
such  a  task,  if,  in  sketching  the  life  and  public  ca 
reer  of  Mr.  Webster,  we  shall  be  found  to  have  brought 
afresh  to  memory,  and  to  have  commended  anew  to 
grateful  study,  events  reflecting  honor  upon  the 
country, — acts  evincing  profound  and  intelligent  pa 
triotism,  and  sentiments  which  will  find  an  echo  in 
every  heart,  duly  alive  to  the  interests  of  the  race, 
and  studious  of  the  means  by  which  its  civil  well-be 
ing  can  be  best  secured. 

Daniel  Webster  was  born  in  the  town  of  Salis 
bury,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1782. 
His  age,  at  the  period  of  his  death,  was  accordingly 
seventy  years,  nine  months,  and  six  days. 

The  ancestral  line  of  the  Webster  family  extended 
back,  in  authentic  records,  to  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Thomas  Webster,  born  in 
1632,  was  the  great-great-grandfather  of  Daniel. 
He  emigrated  to  this  country  from  Norfolk,  England, 
in  the  year  1656,  and  settled  at  Hampton,  in  New 
Hampshire,  where,  soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Sarah  Brewer,  by  whom  he  had 
five  sons  and  three  daughters.  Ebenezer,  his  second 
son,  was  born  in  1667,  and  was  married  to  Hannah 
Judkins  in  July,  1709.  Of  his  sons,  only  one  had 
issue.  This  was  Ebenezer,  grandfather  of  Daniel 


8  MEMORIALS    OF 


who  was  married  to  Susannah  Batchelder  in  1738, 
and  had  eight  children,  of  whom  the  oldest  was  Ebe- 
nezer,  the  father  of  the  great  statesman. 

Ebenezer  Webster  was  born  in  Kingston,  New 
Hampshire,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1739.  The  settle 
ment  was  then  new,  and  Ebenezer's  father  was  a  dili 
gent  and  persevering  farmer.  The  son,  an  active 
youth,  was  early  chosen  as  one  of  the  famous  "  Ran 
gers"  of  Major  Robert  Rogers,  and  served  with  that 
distinguished  officer,  under  Lord  Amherst,  in  the 
French  war  of  1 763.  The  Rangers  were  kept  in  the 
pay  of  the  Crown  during  the  continuance  of  the  war. 
Mr.  Webster  was  one  of  the  party  which,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Rogers,  made  an  expedition  to 
Crown  Point  for  the  purpose  of  chastising  the  In 
dians  and  destroying  their  villages — an  act  which  was 
deemed  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  whites. 
The  Rangers  were  always  on  active  duty,  and  proved 
most  efficient  allies.  The  history  of  their  trials  and 
their  triumphs  has  never  been  fully  told.  At  the  con 
clusion  of  the  peace,  Mr.  Webster,  taking  advantage 
of  the  moment  of  quiet  which  was  afforded  him,  com 
menced  a  settlement,  in  company  with  several  others, 
in  a  border-town  on  a  branch  of  the  Merrimack 
River. \  The  place  was  first,  known  as  Bakerstown, 
but  was  afterward  called  Salisbury — a  name  that  will 
endure  as  long  as  the  history  of  its  greatest  son  shall 
be  remembered  and  cherished  among  the  proudest 
ornaments  of  the  country.  Mr.  Webster  had  just 
commenced  the  necessary  preparations  for  a  comfort 
able  rural  residence,  when  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
began.  His  former  reputation  as  one  of  the  body  of 


DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


Bangers  served  to  direct  the  eyes  of  his  neighbors 
toward  him,  and  his  services  were  soon  in  active  re 
quest  as  the  leader  in  the  constitution  of  their  mili 
tary  bands.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  veteran 
Ranger  entered,  heart  and  soul,  into  that  long  and 
dubious  contest.  Foremost  among  the  brave  defend 
ers  of  the  nation,  and  skilful,  brave  and  experienced, 
the  weight  of  Mr.  Webster's  talents  was  speedily 
manifested  in  the  consistent  ardor  with  which  the 
battle  was  maintained.  Mr.  Webster  commanded  a 
volunteer  company  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  un 
der  General  Stark,  in  the  fight  at  Bennington,  and, 
during  the  engagement,  was  seen  in  the  thickest  of 
the  fray.  It  had  been  given  out  by  Stark,  some  time 
previous  to  the  battle,  that  it  was  his  intention  to 
march  to  Stillwater.  and  a  detachment  of  the  British, 
one  thousand  strong,  was  consequently  sent  to  inter 
cept  him.  The  forces  of  the  enemy  having  been  thus 
divided  and  weakened,  the  American  general  was 
enabled  to  cope  with  them  in  detail.  Col.  Warner 
was  stationed  in  the  rear  of  the  American  army,  with 
a  reserved  corps,  while  Captain  Webster  was  ordered 
to  advance  with  his  company  of  one  hundred  men,  in 
searclj  of  two  hundred  more,  who  were  out  upon  a 
scout.  The  companies  once  united,  Captain  Web 
ster  was  to  assume  the  command  of  the  whole,  and 
fall  upon  the  enemy  on  the  rear,  but  on  no  account  to 
fire,  until  the  action  had  commenced  on  the  other 
side.  It  was  on  this  memorable  occasion  that  Gen 
eral  Stark  uttered  the  celebrated  words  :  "  Fellow- 
soldiers  !  there  is  the  enemy:  if  we  don't  take  them, 
Molly  Stark  will  be  a  widow  to-night  I"  Captain 
1* 


10   '  MEMORIALS  OF 


Webster  having  fulfilled  the  duty  assigned  him  in 
collecting  together  the  three  hundred  men,  awaited 
his  share  in  the  honors  of  the  day.     When  allowed 
to  make   his  charge   upon   the   enemy,  with  pieces 
loaded,  and  with  firm  and  equal  step,  his  men  ad 
vanced   upon    the    opposing    breastworks.      Captain 
Webster  was  the  first  to  leap  the  defences,  but  the 
reinforcements  were  not  sufficient  to  render  the  attack 
successful,    and    his    command    was    driven    back. 
Meantime,   the   British   were   strengthened    by  the 
arrival  of  one  thousand  fresh  troops  upon  the  field, 
and  a  new  disposition  of  the  battle  became  necessary. 
General  Stark  placed  Captain  Webster  and  Captain 
Gregg  on  the  left  wing  of  the  American  force,  Colo 
nel  .Nichols  on  the  right,  and  placed  the  army  in  a 
strong  position.     The  result  of  that  struggle  is  a 
matter  of  history,  and  a  large  proportion  of  its  fame 
is  due  to  the  efforts  of  Ebenezer  Webster.     At  the 
battle  of  White  Plains,  Mr.  Webster  was  also  pre 
sent,  and  performed  effective  service.     At  the  end  of 
the  war,  he  again  retired  to  private  life,  and  sought 
to  end  his   days  peacefully  and  with  honor,  as   an 
humble  cultivator  of  the  soil.     This,  however,  was 
denied  him.     The  people  whom  he  had  served  had 
stronger  claims  upon  him.     He  was,  for  several  years, 
elected  a  Representative  from  Salisbury  to  the  Legis 
lature  of  New  Hampshire,  and  in  the  years  1785-6-8 
and  '90  filled  the  office  of  State  Senator.     In   1785 
he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Militia.     In  1791 
he  was  chosen  as  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  for  the  county  of  Hillsborough,  which  office  he 
held  until  1805.     On  the  22d  of  April  of  the  follow- 


DANIEL    NVEBSTER.  11 


ing  year  (1800),  Col.  Webster  died  upon  his  farm,  at 
the  age  of  67.  His  wife,  Abigail,  survived  him  ten 
years,  and  died  on  the  14th  of  April,  1816,  aged  76 
years. 

Col.  "Webster  was  twice  married.  His  second 
wife,  Abigail  Eastman,  the  mother  of  Daniel  and 
Ezekiel,  was  a  lady  of  Welsh  descent,  and  a  resident 
of  Salisbury  at  the  time  of  her  marriage. 

Daniel  Webster  was  born  under  the  influence  of 
true  New  England  institutions.  A  harsh  and  rug 
ged  country,  cold  blasts  and  meagre  natural  advan 
tages,  formed  no  pleasant  introductions  to  the  world. 
The  hills  and  forests  of  the  Granite  State  offered 
few  inducements,  years  ago,  for  the  development  of 
intellectual  versatility  and  strength.  It  was  the  aim 
of  her  people  to  impart  to  their  children  the  soundest 
principles  of  morality  and  common  sense.  Few  in 
dulgences  were  allowed  them,  and  the  sacredness  of 
parental  control  was  strictly  guarded.  In  the  midst 
of  such  a  public  sentiment  was  Daniel  Webster 
reared.  He  enjoyed  what  is  termed  a  good  New 
England  education,  receiving  the  fullest  advantages 
of  the  school  system  of  that  day — not,  as  now,  brought 
home  to  every  door,  but  occasional  and  migratory  in 
its  nature. 

While  still  young,  Daniel  was  daily  sent  two  miles 
and  a  half  to  school,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  and  on 
foot.  He  walked  the  entire  distance  there  and  back. 
If  the  school  chanced  to  remove  still  further  from  his 
father's  house,  board  was  engaged  in  some  convenient 
family  for  the  youthful  student,  and  his  acquisitions 
of  knowledge  were  pursued  without  interruption.  An 


12  MEMORIALS    OF 


ardent  desire  for  learning  was  early  manifest  in  the 
mind  of  Daniel  Webster.     Difficulties  were  presented, 
with  which  he  was  compelled  to  struggle  ;  hindrances 
stood  in  the  way,  which  he  was  obliged  to  overcome. 
But  every  obstacle  was  surmounted,  and  the  scholar 
came  forth  a  man.     His  father  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  education,  -and  spared  no  pains 
to  give  Daniel  a  thorough  insight  into  the  mysteries 
of  knowledge.     Among  the  few  volumes  contained  in 
the  circulating  library  of  that  day,  the  young  Daniel 
found  a  special  fascination  in  a  copy  of  the  "  Spec 
tator  " — particularly  in  the  criticisms  upon  "  Chevy 
Chase."     Before  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  he  could 
repeat  the  whole  of  the  "  Essay  on  Man."     The  muse 
possessed  great  attractions  for  his  fancy,  and  devo 
tional  hymns  were  frequently  added  to  the  list  of  his 
juvenile  accomplishments.     Among  the  pieces  com 
mitted  to  memory,  as  a  pastime  merely,  was  the  en 
tire  volume  of  that  ancient  collection  of  church  melo 
dies  known  as  "  Watts's  Psalms  and  Hymns." 

In  his  fourteenth  year,  Daniel  was  placed  in  Phil 
lips'  Academy  at  Exeter,  N.  H.,  at  that  time  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Abbot.  This  event,  his 
first  separation  from  home  and  friends,  took  place  on 
the  25th  April,  179G.  Daniel  was  now  one  among 
•  ninety  boys,  all  of  whom  were  perfect  strangers.  Re 
conciling  himself,  however,  to  the  necessities  of  the 
case,  Daniel  soon  became  naturalized  among  his  new 
associates,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  the  customary 
routine  of  academical  studies.  Public  declamation, 
curiously  enough,  was  his  aversion,  and  the  thought 
of  it  a  bugbear.  The  future  orator  withdrew  from 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  J3 


observation,  and  sought  to  conceal  himself  behind  his 
fellows.     Remaining  but  a  few  months  at  the  aca 
demy,  Daniel,  in  February,  1797,  was  placed  under 
the  tuition  of  Rev.  Samuel  Woods,  at  Boscawen.    The 
prospect  of  a  collegiate  education  was  at  this  time 
first  opened  to  him  by  his  father.     Incited  by  the 
indications  of  this  preferment,  colleges  being  then 
exclusive,  and  not  in  every  case  attainable,  the  young 
man  profited  by  the  opportunities  that  were  offered 
him.     With  Mr.  Woods  he  read  Virgil  and  Cicero. 
and  became  a  fair  Latin  scholar.     His  favorite  clas 
sic  at  this  time  was  Cicero,  and  the  strength  of  early 
impressions  was  never  abated — the  immortal  Orator 
was  always  the  favorite  study  of  the  American  Sage. 
In  the  summer  of  1797,  Daniel  entered  Dart 
mouth  College  as  a  Freshman.     The  regular  duties  of 
a  student  were  performed  by  him  with  faithfulness 
and  energy.     He  lost  no  time  in  idle  dissipations, 
became  noted  for  a  constant  avidity  for  reading,  and 
devoted  much  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  a  know 
ledge  of  English  literature.     Among  his  college  pas 
times  he  superintended   the  publication  of  a  small 
weekly  newspaper,  to  which  he  contributed  various 
selections,  and  occasionally  an  original  essay.     These 
early  efforts  in  composition  are  probably  the  first  of 
his  writings  that  were  ever  published.     Graduating 
with  the  approbation  of  his  fellows,  and  in  receipt  of 
the  honorable  testimonials  of  merit,  though  not  dis 
playing  any  remarkable  powers  which  would  seem  to 
indicate  his  future  greatness.  Daniel  returned  home, 
determined  to  adopt  the  profession  of  the  law  for  a 
livelihood. 


14  MEMORIALS    OF 


A  course  of  legal  reading  was  begun  under  the 
eye  of  Mr.  Thompson,  a  gentleman  well  known  to  the 
family  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  afterward  United  States 
Senator.  Daniel's  studies  were  not,  however,  suffered 
to  be  prolonged  without  interruption.  Anxious  that 
his  brother  Ezekiel  should  possess  advantages  for 
education  similar  to  those  enjoyed  by  himself,  Daniel 
interceded  with  his  father  with  such  success  that  the 
brother,  in  1801,  was  sent  to  college.  To  meet  the 
additional  expenses  which  this  circumstance  involved, 
Daniel  temporarily  forsook  the  law  and  commenced 
teaching  school,  as  much  to  advance  his  brother  as  to 
cover  the  necessary  expenditures  in  the  prosecution, 
of  his  own  profession.  The  pedagogue  was  first  made 
manifest  in  the  town  of  Fryeburg,  in  Maine,  where 
Daniel  taught  the  town  Academy,  at  the  meagre  sti 
pend  of  $350.  Of  this  amount,  he  contrived  to  save 
the  whole,  having  obtained  the  post  of  Assistant  to 
the  Register  of  Deeds  of  the  County,  by  which  he 
met  the  ordinary  outlays  of  his  position.  In  Frye 
burg,  Mr.  Webster  found  another  circulating  library, 
in  which  was  contained  a  set  of  Blackstone's  Com 
mentaries,  the  legal  food  of  the  young  student  during 
his  stay  in  that  place. 

In  September,  1 802,  Daniel  returned  to  Salisbury, 
and  resumed  the  study  of  the  law  with  Mr.  Thomp 
son.  When  not  so  engaged,  his  time  was  occupied 
with  the  Latin  Classics.  He  read  with  avidity  the 
tomes  of  Sallust,  Caesar  and  Horace.  Some  odes  of 
the  latter  were  translated  by  him  and  published.  The 
sports  of  angling,  gunning  and  horsemanship  consti 
tuted  his  pastimes.  The  meditative  pursuit  of  old 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  15 


Izaak  was  always  a  favorite  amusement  of  the  great 
statesman.  With  fishing-rod  and  line  he  would  wait 
for  hours  beside  some  tranquil  stream,  watching  the 
play  of  the  suspicious  tribe,  and  moralizing,  like  his 
piscatorian  model,  upon  the  ways  and  doings  of  fishes 
and  of  men.  .  Indeed,  it  is  sportively  said  by  his 
friends,  that,  as  the  future  orator  one  day  drew  in  a 
large  and  most  tempting  trout,  he  uttered  the  words 
which  he  afterwards  employed  on  the  Bunker-Hill 
Address :  "  Venerable  men  !  you  have  come  down  to 
us  from  a  former  generation.  Heaven  has  boun 
teously  lengthened  out  your  lives  that  you  might  be 
hold  this  joyous  day."  The  tale  is  probably  a  jest ; 
but  the  words  are  immortal.  In  this  way,  Mr.  Web 
ster  was  ever  in  the  habit  of  planning  speeches  and 
pursuing  some  other  avocation  at  one  and  the  same 
moment. 

In  July,  1804,  Daniel  removed  to  Boston,  where 
his  course  of  law-reading  went  forward  under  the  eye 
of  Hon.  Christopher  Gore,  afterward  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  The  most  ample  opportunities. were 
here  enjoyed  for  a  complete  legal  education,  and 
Daniel  so  far  improved  them  that  in  the  following 
year  (March,  1805),  he  was  admitted  to  practise  in 
the  Suffolk  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  According  to 
the  custom  of  those  days,  the  pupil  was  accompanied 
into  Court  by  his  patron.  To  the  kind  exertions  of 
Governor  Gore  in  his  behalf,  jm  this  occasion,  Mr. 
Webster  acknowledged  his  great  indebtedness.  The 
introduction  insured  him  respect  and  attention,  and 
he  was  not  long  in  stepping  into  a  lucrative  profes 
sional  business.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  as  an  evi- 


16  MEMORIALS    OF 


dence  of  the  superior  discernment  of  his  legal  guar 
dian,  that,  in  the  introductory  address,  Governor  Gore 
took  the  pains  to  utter  a  prophecy  of  the  future  ce 
lebrity  of  the  young  aspirant.  Mr.  Webster  began 
practice  in  the  village  of  Boscawen,  whence  he  re 
moved  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  1807. 

About  this  time  an  event  occurred  which  was 
nearly  a  crisis  in  the  young  man's  history.  The 
clerkship  of  the  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in 
Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  became  vacant,  and 
Judge  Webster  being  at  the  time  upon  the  bench, 
his  colleagues  tendered  the  vacant  post  to  Daniel,  as 
a  mark  of  respect  to  his  father.  Daniel  was  not  at 
all  in  favor  of  th£  proposition.  His  friend,  Governor 
Gore,  strongly  discouraged  his  acceptance  of  the  of 
fice.  "  Once  a  clerk,  always  a  clerk,"  was  the  argu 
ment  of  that  gentleman.  Daniel,  too,  saw  reasons 
why  he  should  not  accept.  But  he  knew  his  father's 
heart  was  bent  upon  it,  and,  fearing  to  refuse,  he 
started  homeward.  In  conversation  with  his  father, 
he  filially  expressed  his  determination  to  decline. 
Judge  Webster  was  for  a  moment  incensed.  Daniel 
replied  that  "  he  meant  to  use  his  tongue  in  the  courts, 
not  the  pen ;  to  be  an  actor,  not  the  register  of  other 
men's  actions."  His  father  answered  him  with  pride, 
"  His  mother,"  he  observed,  "  had  always  said  that 
Daniel  would  come  to  something  or  nothing,  she  was 
not  sure  which  ;  he  thought  the  doubt  was  about  to 
be  settled."  So  the  clerkship  went  its  ways,  and 
Daniel  reconciled  to  his  father,  and  satisfied  with  hia 
own  course,  went  back  to  his  practice.  Judge  Web- 
gter  lived  but  a  year  afterward,  but  his  life  was  long 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


enough  to  enable  him  to  hear  his  son's  first  argument, 
and  to  be  gratified  at  the  fulfilment  of  the  promising 
predictions  that  had  been  circulated  regarding  him. 
He  died  in  April,  1806. 

In  May,  1807,  Daniel,  whom  we  shall  now  desig 
nate  by  the  more  dignified  appellation  of  Mr.  Web 
ster,  was  admitted  to  practice  as  attorney  and  coun 
sellor  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
in  September  of  the  same  year  relinquished  his  office 
to  his  brother  Ezekiel,  who  had  then  obtained  admis 
sion  to  the  Bar.  Daniel  then  removed  to  Ports 
mouth.  It  may  here  be  proper  to  say,  that  Mr. 
Webster  always  espoused  with  warmth  the  cause  of 
Ezekiel,  his  only  brother.  A  man  of  strong,  native 
powers,  though  slow  to  action,  Ezekiel  only  lacked 
opportunity  and  a  longer  life  to  have  become  a  dis 
tinguished  personage.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  life, 
while  arguing  a  cause  in  Concord,  New  Hampshire, 
and  was  lamented  by  a  large  class  of  friends  and 
mourning  relatives. 

Daniel  Webster  was  married  in  June,  1808,  to 
Grace  Fletcher,  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher,  of 
Hopkinton,  New  Hampshire.  They  had  four  chil 
dren — Grace,  Fletcher,  Julia,  and  Edward — of  whom 
only  Fletcher  now  survives.  Grace  died  early  ;  Ed 
ward  was  killed  in  the  Mexican  War  ;  Julia  married 
one  of  the  Appletons,  of  Boston,  and  died  a  few  years 
since. 

Mr.  Webster  resided  in  Portsmouth  for  a  period 
of  nine  years.  The  Bar  of  that  time  presented  a  roll 
of  brilliant  names.  Samuel  Dexter  and  Joseph  Sto 
ry,  of  Massachusetts,  William  K.  Atkinson,  Attorney- 


18  MEMORIALS    OF 


General  of  New  Hampshire,  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith, 
Jeremiah  Mason,  and  men  of  like  calibre,  were  the 
leading  practitioners  of  the  law.  With  them  was 
sustained  a  pleasant  and  profitable  intercourse,  and 
the  friendship  which  they  extended  to  Mr.  Webster 
was  no  small  assistance  to  the  efforts  of  the  new  aspi 
rant  for  legal  honors.  Mr.  Webster's  practice  here  was 
chiefly  circuit.  He  followed  the  Superior  Court  into 
many  of  the  Counties  of  the  State,  and  was  retain 
ed  in  most  of  the  important  causes  upon  the  docket. 
Office  he  never  held  in  New  Hampshire,  and  his  private 
professional  practice  was  not  remarkably  lucrative. 
It  has  been  remarked,  as  a  circumstance  somewhat 
singular,  that  in  very  few  cases  was  Mr.  Webster  em 
ployed  as  junior  counsel.  Scarcely  a  dozen  instances 
of  this  kind  occurred  during  his  long  career.  Men 
had  occasion  for  his  services  as  their  leading  counsel, 
and  reposed  in  him  the  utmost  confidence — a  reliance 
which  was  never  misplaced  or  regretted,  and  to  which 
many  will  now  turn  with  a  grateful  recollection  of  the 
value  of  his  aid. 

Soon  after  the  Declaration  of  War  against  Eng 
land,  Mr.  Webster  was  called  to  enter  the  arena  of 
public  life.  Though  but  thirty  years  of  age,  an  early 
period  to  take  part  in  the  Councils  of  a  Nation—the 
native  strength  of  Mr.  Webster's  character  had  al 
ready  pointed  him  out  as  the  man  that  was  needed 
for  the  times ;  and  the  undeveloped  Statesman  made 
his  first  step  in  that  long  career  of  public  life  which 
has  identified  his  name,  as  Representative,  Senator, 
Diplomatist,  and  Cabinet  Minister,  with  the  history 
of  the  United  States. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  19 


MR.  WEBSTER  IN   CONGRESS. 

The  political  contest  which  resulted  in  the  elec 
tion  of  Mr.  Webster  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
was  long  and  spirited.  A  vehement  opposition  was 
started  against  the  party  which  he  represented,  and 
although  his  ultimate  triumph  was  gratifying  in  the 
extreme,  the  struggle  was  severe.  Mr.  Webster 
finally  received  a  very  handsome  majority  over  his 
opponent,  and  took  his  seat  at  the  Extra  Session  of 
the  Thirteenth  Congress,  in  May,  1813.  The  time 
at  which  he  entered  Congress  was  one  of  great  excite 
ment.  The  question  of  the  prosecution  of  the  War 
was  warmly  agitated,  and  raised  divisions  of  party 
opinion,  that  threatened  serious  difficulties.  The 
wisdom  of  retorting  by  severe  retaliatory  measures, 
against  the  arbitrary  acts  of  Great  Britain,  respect 
ing  American  shipping,  was  doubted  by  many  mem 
bers  of  that  Congress.  The  conviction  of  the  neces 
sity  of  the  conflict  was  not  general  throughout  the 
country.  Men  objected  that  the  War  had  been  be 
gun  by  a  faction,  that  it  was  non-essential  in  princi 
ple,  and  that  it  needed  not  to  be  prosecuted  with  any 
extraordinary  degree  of  ardor.  Into  the  midst  of 
this  caldron  of  differing  opinions,  Mr.  Webster  was 
thrown  by  his  constituents.  He  was  equal  to  the 
emergency  in  which  he  found  himself  plunged.  That 
Congress  comprised  men  of  surpassing  talent.  Of 
the  House,  Henry  Clay  was  Speaker.  Among  the 
members  were  Calhoun,  Forsyth,  Grundy,  Gaston, 
Pickering.  Intellect  and  learning  shed  a  lustre  over 


20  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  Lower  House,  which  it  has  rarely  witnessed  since. 
Mr.  Webster  made  his  appearance  punctually  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Session,  and  was  immediately 
placed  by  Mr.  Clay  upon  the  Committee  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  a  position  of  honor  and  responsibility. 

Mr.  Webster  delivered  his  maiden  speech  in  the 
House  on  Thursday,  10th  June,  1813.     It  took  Con 
gress  by  surprise.     A  young  man,  appearing  for  the 
first  time  in  public  life,  and  previously  unknown  in  po 
litical  circles,  had  made  a  sudden  and  indelible  impres 
sion  upon  older  and  more  experienced  men.     The  re 
sult  has  proved  that  the  early  promise  was  not  falla 
cious.     Intellect  sharpened  and  strengthened  by  con 
tinual  exercise,  especially  in  courts  of  law,  and  under 
the   excitement   of  vehement   opposition,   is  pretty 
sure  to  receive   a  rapid  and  healthy  development. 
Mr.  Webster  founded  his  speech  upon  certain  resolu 
tions  which  he  introduced  in  relation  to  the  Berlin 
and  Milan  Decrees,  requesting  the  President  "  to  in 
form  the  House  when,  by  whom,  and  in  what  man 
ner,  the  first  intelligence  was  given  to  this  Govern 
ment  of  the  decree  of  the  Government  of   France, 
bearing  date  the  28th  of  April,  1811,  and  purporting 
to  be  a  definitive  repeal  of  the  Decrees  of  Berlin  and 
Milan."      The  resolutions  were  supported   by    Mr. 
Webster,  in  a  speech  of  masterly  power  and  vigor, 
producing  facts  and  arguments,  which  could  do  no 
less  than  rivet  the  attention  of  the  House.     The  ob 
ject  of  Mr.   Webster  was  merely  to  obtain  informa 
tion,  which  was  freely  communicated  by  President 
Madison.     The  action  of  Napoleon  in  regard  to  the 
maritime  questions  of  the  day  was  productive  of  such 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  21 


measure  of  retaliation  from  England,  that  great  danger 
was  experienced  by  the  neutral  powers  which  had 
vessels  upon  the  ocean.  Great  Britain  then  insisting 
upon  her  right  of  search  in  vessels  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  the  pent-up  passions  found  vent,  and 
the  mother  country  and  her  daughter  were  again  em 
broiled  in  war.  Mr.  Webster  entered  Congress,  not  at 
the  commencement  of  this  second  struggle,  but  in 
the  heat  of  its  progress.  War  was  raging  when  he 
took  his  seat.  The  minutiae  of  the  preparations  for 
its  continuance,  were  allotted  to  him  as  one  of  the 
National  Council.  Although  opposed  to  the  policy 
which  had  been  adopted,  he  offered  no  very  serious 
opposition  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  content 
ed  himself  >7ith  seeking  to  guide  the  strong  current  into 
channels  which  appeared  safest  and  most  expedient. 
He  had  always  believed  that  the  most  efficient  method 
of  crippling  the  power  of  England,  was  to  attack  her 
upon  the  sea,  and  hence,  at  an  early  period,  he  advo 
cated  the  improvement  of  the  Navy.  Before  the  com 
mencement  of  the  War,  or  his  entrance  into  Con 
gress,  he  had  written  several  powerful  arguments  fa 
voring  an  increase  of  our  naval  force,  and  one  of  his 
earliest  speeches  in  the  House  was  intended  to  accom 
plish  the  same  purpose.  Other  topics  of  national  in 
terest  and  importance  also  occupied  his  attention  while 
he  continued  a  member  of  the  House.  On  the  repeal 
of  the  Embargo,  and  on  an  appeal  from  the  Chair  on 
a  motion  for  the  previous  question,  he  spoke  strongly 
and  with  effect.  His  standing  as  an  orator  was 
speedily  attained.  It  never  degenerated  into  a  se 
condary  quality,  and  the  part  assumed  by  him  ia 


22  MEMORIALS    OF 


his  earliest  public  efforts  was  such  as  few  men  so 
young  have  sustained.  Of  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Web 
ster  on  the  Embargo  and  on  the  appeal,  Mr.  Everett 
holds  the  following  language :  "His  speeches  on 
these  questions  raised  him  to  the  front  rank  of  debat 
ers.  He  manifested  upon  his  entrance  into  pub 
lic  life,  that  variety  of  knowledge,  familiarity  with 
the  history  and  traditions  of  the  Government,  and 
self-possession  on  the  floor,  which  in  most  cases  are 
acquired  by  time  and  long  experience.  They  gained 
for  him  the  reputation  indicated  by  the  well-known 
remark  of  Mr.  Lowndes,  that '  the  North  had  uot  his 
equal,  nor  the  South  his  superior.'  " 

Mr.  Webster  was  re-elected  to  the  House  of  Re 
presentatives  in  August,  1814  His  constituents, 
pleased  that  New  Hampshire-  -nl  &°  creditable 

a  representative,  and  justly  pro  -  .0  honorable 

position  attained  in  so  brief  aperio-i  oy  Mr.  Webster, 
again  gave  him  the  preference,  and  he  received,  for 
the  second  time,  a  handsome  majority.  When  he 
again  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties, 
Mr.  Webster  found  himself  in  a  new  position.  The 
Peace  was  declared  in  December,  1814,  and  Congress 
had  time  to  give  its  attention  to  the  internal  affairs 
of  the  country.  The  debates  no  longer  turned  upon 
the  budget  of  War.  The  commercial  class  and  the 
mass  of  the  people  were  now  to  receive  attention,  and 
their  wants  were  to  be  canvassed  and  supplied.  Gov 
ernment  found  it  convenient  to  propose  the  establish 
ment  of  a  National  Bank,  and  a  bill  for  that  purpose 
was  iiitrod'v  d  into  the  House,  on  the  recommendation 
f,L  Mr.  Da^as,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  23 


elicited  a  splendid  display  of  forensic  ability  from 
arose.  It  required  the  reservation  of  a  Bank  capital 
of  fifty  millions  of  dollars  ;  of  which  only  five  millions 
were  to  be  in  specie,  and  the  remainder  in  the  de 
preciated  Government  securities ;  with  an  obligation 
to  lend  thirty  millions  for  the  use  of  the  Treasury. 
With  these  provisions,  the  bill  had  passed  the  Senate, 
and  was  sent  to  the  House.  It  was  warmly  discussed. 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  "Webster  were  among  its  oppo 
nents.  Mr.  Webster  deemed  the  project  useless  and 
pernicious.  He  denounced  it  as  a  mere  paper-money 
contrivance,  which  was  calculated  to  injure  the  People, 
to  increase  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the 
Government,  and  to  bring  discredit  upon  the  Country. 
The  bill,  as  originally  reported,  was  finally  negatived. 
A  reconsideration  was  then  moved,  and  the  bill  was 
amended  in  several  important  particulars.  A  specie- 
paying  Bank  was  planned,  and  received  the  support 
of  Mr.  Webster  and  those  who  had  opposed  so  stren 
uously  the  original  draft.  In  its  improved  shape  the 
bill  passed,  and  was  sent  to  the  President  for  approval, 
but  Mr.  Madison  returned  it  to  the  House  with  his 
objections,  and  the  subject  went  over  for  that  session. 

The  adjournment  of  Congress  left  Mr.  Webster  _ 
at  liberty  to  resume  his  professional  occupations,  and 
enabled  him  to  pay  that  degree  of  attention  to  his 
personal  affairs  of  which  they  had  stood  in  need  during 
his  long  absence  from  home.  In  the  month  of  January, 
1814.  he  had  sustained  a  heavy  loss  in  the  destruction 
of  his  house  at  Portsmouth  by  the  great  fire  which 
visited  that  place.  Not  remarkably  rich  in  the  goods 
of  this  world  at  that  period,  Mr.  Webster's  finances 


24  MEMORIALS    OF 


bill  contained  provisions  to  which  great  opposition 
suffered  a  serious  blow  by  this  disaster,»and  he  began 
to  agitate  the  question  of  removing  his  family  either 
to  Albany  or  Boston.  This  removal  was  effected  in 
August,  1816.  Mr.  Webster  was  well  known  in 
Boston  as  a  citizen  and  a  professional  man.  He 
was  certain  of  a  warm  welcome  among  old  friends, 
and  saw  many  reasons  why  he  should  return  to 
the  field  in  which  he  first  stepped  forward.  His. 
practice  in  the  Courts  of  New  Hampshire  wiiS 
never  resumed,  excepting  in  the  celebrated  case  of 
Dartmouth  College,  tried  in  September,  1817.  This 
cause  involved  Constitutional  questions,  and  en 
gaged  the  attention  of  Mr.  Webster  for  a  consider 
able  period.  The  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire 
had  passed  certain  acts  purporting  to  enlarge  and 
improve  the  Corporation  of  the  College  and  to 
amend  its  Charter.  The  trial  was  to  test  the  ques 
tion  whether  such  acts  could  be  binding  upon  the 
Corporation,  without  its  consent.  Mr.  Webster  es 
pousing  the  cause  of  the  Corporation,  argued  with 
his  usual  ability  upon  the  unconstitutionally  of  the 
action  of  the  Legislature.  Upon  an  adverse  opinion 
of  the  New  Hampshire  (\>urt  being  rendered,  a  writ 
of  error  was  sued  out  by  the  Corporation,  and  the 
cause  was  removed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  The  argument  took  place,  before  all 
the  Judges,  in  March  1818;  Mr.  Webster  and  Mr. 
Hopkinsop  appearing  for  the  plaintiffs  in  error,  and 
Mr.  Holmes  and  the  Attorney-General  of  New 
Hampshire  in  opposition.  The  question  involved  in 
the  case  was  new  to  American  Jurisprudence,  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  25 


the  opposing  counsel.  The  argument  of  Mr.  Webster 
served  to  place  the  matter  in  its  true  light,  and  Judge 
Story  at  last  coincided  with  his  colleagues  in  declar 
ing  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  invalid,  and  revers 
ing  the  decision  of  the  Superior  Court  of  New-Hamp 
shire. 

When  Mr.  Webster  removed  to  Boston,  he  had 
one  session   to  serve  in  Congress  as  Representative 
irom  New-Hampshire.     The  proceedings  of  that  ses- 
siorr  were  unimportant.     At  its  close,  he  retired  to 
his  practice  in  Boston,  where  for  two  years  he  was 
permitted  to  repose,  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of 
private  life.     He  was  not,  however,  allowed  any  lon 
ger  respite.     He  was  soon  urged  by  friends  and  poli 
tical  admirers  to  become  a  candidate  for  Congress  for 
the  third  time  ;  but  he  steadfastly  declined  the  offer. 
An  offer  of  election   to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  was  tendered  him  by  his  friends  in  the  Legis 
lature  ;   but  this  was  also  declined.     Devoted  to  his 
profession,  he  had  no  wish  to  draw  himself  from  it. 
Earning   a  competency  by  his  legal  attainments,  he 
desired  no  honors  other  than  those  which  attached  to 
a  good  citizen  and  an  honest  man.     The  community 
insisted  more  strongly  upon  pressing  him  again  into 
the  public  service.     He  served  for  a,  short  time  in  the 
Legislature,    was   chosen   one   of   the    Presidential 
Electors  of  Massachusetts  in  the  canvass  which  result 
ed  in  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  was  a  dele 
gate  to  the  Convention  called  to  revise  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  Commonwealth  in  1821.     In  that  Con 
vention,  Mr.  Webster  took  a  prominent  part, — con 
stitutional  argument  having  become  his  forte.     His 


26  MEMORIALS    OF 


principal  arguments  were  devoted  to  the  subjects  of 
oaths  of  office,  the  division  of  the  State  into  Senato 
rial  Districts,  and  the  appointment  of  Judicial  officers 
by  the  Executive. 

In  the  Fall  of  1822,  after  the  most  pressing  soli 
citation,  Mr.  Webster  yielded  his  consent  to  run 
again  for  Congress.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Col. 
Thomas  H.  Perkins,  "VVm.  Sturgis,  "Wm.  Sullivan, 
John  T.  Apthorp,  and  Daniel  Messenger,  called  upon, 
him  to  apprise  him  of  his  nomination.  He  did  not 
now  decline.  He  was  elected  by  one  thousand  majo 
rity  over  his  competitor,  Jesse  Putnam,  and  again 
took  his  seat  in  the  House,  not  as  a  M  .  ''-om  a 
rural  district  in  New-Hampshire, — but  a  "  •  tenta 
tive  from  the  City  of  Boston.  Henry  CI;^  .vas  again 
Speaker.  Familiar  faces  greeted  the  vision  of  the 
Massachusetts  Representative,  ar  d  earnest  discussions 
presently  gave  active  employment  to  Mr.  Webster's 
busy  mind. 

Early  in  the  session,  th-3  subject  of  the  Revolu 
tion  in  Greece  came  before  the  House.  Mr.  Webster 
on  the  8th  of  December,  1823,  presented  the  follow 
ing  resolution  :  "  That  provision  ought  to  be  made  by 
law,  for  defraying  the  expense  incident  to  the  ap 
pointment  of  an  ^gent  or  Commissioner  to  Greece, 
whenever  the  President  shall  deem  it  expedient  to 
make  such  appointment." 

In  his  famous  speech  in  support  of  this  resolution, 
Mr.  Webster  showed  himself  a  profound  and  discrim 
inating  judge  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  relations  of 
nations  and  communities.  In  sympathy  for  the  op 
pressed  and  struggling  Greeks,  he  was  not  surpassed 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


by  any  of  the  men  of  his  time.  He  evinced  a  ready 
appreciation  of  the  evils  with  which  they  struggled, 
and  uttered  a  trumpet-toned  and  indignant  remon 
strance  against  the  tyranny  which  sought  their  degra 
dation.  The  «  Greek  speech"  will  be  remembered  as 
long  as  American  Oratory  has  a  place  among  the  re 
cords  of  History. 

^It  is  interesting   to  notice  that   the   principles 
which  were  avowed   on   this  occasion,  were    subse 
quently  re-affirmed  by  Mr.  Webster  in  language  still 
more  striking,  applied  to  the  affairs  of  Hungary.      On 
the  occasion  of  the  Congressional  Banquet  to  Kos- 
suth  in  January  last,  Mr.  Webster  declared  that  « in 
the  sentiments  avowed  by  him  in  the  years  1823  and 
1824,  in  the  cause  of  Greece,  there  was  that  which 
he  could  never  part  from  without  departing  from 
himself"     Those   sentiments   were   most   fearlessly 
put  forth.     On  the  19th  January,  1823,  Mr.  Webster 
made  a  long  and  eloquent  argument,  covering  the 
whole  question.     Eeviewing  the  circumstances  which 
accompanied  the  struggles  of  the  Greeks,  and  pass 
ing  some  severe  strictures  upon  the  policy  observed 
by  the  states  of  Europe  towards  that  unhappy  coun 
try,  Mr.  Webster  proceeded  to  a  statement  of  th* 
effects  and  consequences  of  the  actions  of  Europeap 
potentates  in  regard  to  free   governments   and   the 
spread  of  republican  institutions.     The  limits  of  this 
sketch  permit  no  detailed  analysis  of  the  line  of  argu 
ment  laid  down  by  Mr.  Webster,  in  this  celebrated 
speech,  nor  is  it  necessary.     The  leading  idea  was 
the  defence  of  free  institutions  against  absolutism ; 
an  argument  in  favor  of  constitutional  rights  against 


28  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  encroachments  of  despotism.  In  regarding  the 
position  proper  to  be  assumed  by  this  country,  in 
reference  to  the  Greek  struggle,  Mr.  "Webster  gave 
utterance  to  one  of  the  finest  passages  which  the  lan 
guage  has  produced.  He  sought  to  discourage  any 
violent  and  belligerent  measures,  and  fell  back  upon 
the  power  of  public  opinion.  In  arguing  this  point, 
he  said : 

"  Sir,  this  reasoning  mistakes  the  age.  The  time 
has  been,  indeed,  when  fleets,  and  armies,  and  subsidies 
were  the  principal  reliances,  even  in  the  best  cause. 
But,  happily  for  mankind,  there  has  arrived  a  great 
change  in  this  respect.  Moral  causes  come  into  con 
sideration  in  proportion  as  the  progress  of  knowledge 
is  advanced  ;  and  the  public  opinion  of  the  civilized 
world  is  rapidly  gaming  an  ascendency  over  mere 
brutal  force.  It  may  be  silenced  by  military  power, 
but  it  cannot  be  conquered.  It  is  elastic,  irrepressi 
ble,  and  invulnerable  to  the  weapons  of  ordinary  war 
fare.  It  is  that  impassable,  inextinguishable  enemy 
of  mere  violence  and  arbitrary  rule,  which,  like  Mil 
ton's  angels, 

i 

*  Vital  in  every  part, 
Cannot,  but  by  annihilating,  die.' 

Unless  this  be  propitiated  or  satisfied,  it  is  in  vain 
for  power  to  talk  either  of  triumphs  or  repose.  No 
matter  what  fields  are  desolated,  what  fortresses  sur 
rendered,  what  armies  subdued,  or  what  provinces 
overrun,  there  is  an  enemy  that  still  exists  to  check 
the  glory  of  these  triumphs.  It  follows  the  con 
queror  back  to  the  very  scene  of  his  ovations  ;  it 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  29 

calls  upon  him  to  take  notice  that  the  world,  though 
silent,  is  yet  indignant ;  it  shows  him  that  the  sceptre 
of  his  victory  is  a  barren  sceptre  ;  that  it  shall  confer 
neither  joy  nor  honor,  but  shall  moulder  to  dry  ashes 
in  his  grasp.  In  the  midst  of  his  exultation,  it 
pierces  his  ear  with  the  cry  of  injured  justice ;  it  de 
nounces  against  him  the  indignation  of  an  enlight 
ened  and  civilized  age ;  it  turns  to  bitterness  the  cup 
of  his  rejoicing,  and  wounds  him  with  the  sting  which 
belongs  to  the  consciousness  of  having  outraged  the 
opinion  of  mankind." 

In  the  course  of  this  speech.  Mr.  "Webster  advert 
ed,  in  terms  of  reprobation,  to  the  Treaty  of  Paris, 
of  1815,  by  which  the  principles  that  bound  together 
the  "  Holy  Alliance;'  were  asserted  and  maintained. 
He  expressed  his  abhorrence  of  the  doctrines  thus 
sought  to  be  enforced  by  European  despotisms,  and 
remarked :  "  Human  liberty  may  yet,  perhaps,  be 
obliged  to  repose  its  principal  hopes  on  the  intelli 
gence  and  the  vigor  of  the  Saxon  race.  So  far  as 
depends  on  us,  at  least,  I  trust  those  hopes  will  not 
be  disappointed." 

Mr.  Webster  also  took  an  active  part  in  the  dis 
cussions  upon  the  Tariff  in  1824.  In  common  with 
the  remainder  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  he  op 
posed  that  instrument  on  grounds  of  expediency,  but 
the  bill  was  passed  and  became  a  law. 

In  the  Fall  of  1824,  Mr.  Webster  was  reflected 
to  Congress,  by  the  almost  unanimous  vote  of  4,990 
out  of  5000.  This  remarkable  indication  of  the 
public  favor  was  as  unexpected  as  well-merited  and 
gratifying.  Mr,  Webster  was  now  fairly  settled  in  a 


30  MEMORIALS    OF 


public  career,  and  he  was  thenceforward  but  rarely 
absent  from  stations  of  trust  and  confidence. 

The  Presidential  contest  in  which  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  finally  successful,  now  agitated  the  coun 
try.  Mr.  Clay  accepted  the  post  of  Secretary  of 
State.  The  principal  topic  of  this  Administration 
was  the  Panama  Mission,  a  subject  of  dispute,  which 
created  a  great  sensation,  and  elicited  many  warm 
debates  in  Congress.  Mr.  Webster  had  supported 
with  earnestness,  the  noted  Declaration  of  Presi 
dent  Monroe, — that  any  combinations  of  European 
powers  to  promote  certain  objects  in  America  would 
be  considered  as  directly  affecting  the  Nation. — and, 
in  accordance  with  the  position  he  had  assumed,  gave 
a  cordial  support  to  the  proposed  Mission  to  Panama, 
for  the  settlement  of  existing  difficulties.  He  made 
an  able  speech  on  this  subject  in  the  House,  in  April, 
1826.  The  general  unpopularity  of  the  measure  in 
contemplation,  however,  caused  it  to  fail. 

On  the  22d  December,  1820,  at  the  second  Cen 
tennial  Celebration  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth,  Mr.  Webster  delivered  the  grand  Oration 
which  is  now  in  the  mouth  of  every  schoolboy.  Five 
years  afterward,  in  1825,  he  spoke  at  Bunker  Hill, 
at  the  semi-centennial  Celebration  of  the  glorious 
Battle  which  had  there  been  fought.  In  a  few  months 
he  was  called  to  commemorate  the  services  t>f  Adams 
and  Jefferson,  whose  deaths  occurred  under  circum 
stances  of  such  curious  coincidence.  On  the  22d 
February,  1832,  upon  the  completion  of  a  century 
from  the  birth  of  Washington,  Mr.  Webster  was 
called  upon  to  deliver  an  Address  at  the  National 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  31 


Capital,  and  enchained  the  attention  of  his  audience, 
by  a  fascinating  delineation  of  the  virtues  of  the  Fa 
ther  of  his  Country. 

In  November,  1826,  Mr.  Webster  was  again  soli 
cited  to  represent  his  District  in  the  House,  for  the 
third  time,  but  before  he  had  taken  his  seat,  a  va 
cancy  occurring  in  the  Senate  by  the  retirement  of 
the  venerable  Elijah  H.  Mills,  Mr.  Webster  was 
chosen  to  fill  that  post. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1827,  a  heavy  do 
mestic  affliction  was  visited  upon  Mr.  Webster,  in  the 
loss  of  his  wife.  They  were  on  the  way  to  Washing 
ton  when  Mrs.  Webster  was  taken  ill,  and  soon  died. 
This  melancholy  event  prevented  Mr.  Webster  from 
taking  his  seat  in  the  Senate  until  January,  1 828. 

In  the  Senatorial  career  of  Mr.  Webster,  so  many 
elements  of  power  and  popularity  have  passed  into 
record,  that  it  is  difficult  to   embrace,  in  a  simple 
sketch,  all  the  peculiar  features  of  the  great  move 
ments  in  which  he  took  part.     Mr.  Calhoun,  as  Vice- 
President,  occupied  the  chair  of  the  Senate.      Messrs. 
Forsyth,  Benton,  Yan   Buren,  Woodbury,  Tazewell, 
Clayton  and  Hayne,  were  among  the  Senators.     Mr. 
Webster's  first  parliamentary  encounter,  upon  his  en 
trance  into  the  Senate,  took  place  with  Mr.  Tazewell, 
of  Virginia.     The  subject  in  dispute  was  the  Process 
Bill,  contrived  for  the  regulation  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  United   States  Courts,  and  the  details  of  the 
controversy  had  little  public  interest.     Mr.  Webster 
afterward  made  strong  and  praiseworthy  exertions  in 
aid  of  the  measures  of  relief  to  the  surviving  officers  of 
the  Revolution.  In  regard  to  the  Tariff,  upon  which  the 


32  MEMORIALS    OF 


controversy  of  past  days  was  renewed,  Mr.  "YVeoster 
deemed  it  his  duty  to  vote  for  the  amended  bill  in 
troduced  into  the  Senate.  In  the  course  of  his  re 
marks  upon  certain  objections  which  he  had  urged 
against  the  measure,  and  for  which  he  sought  an  im 
provement,  he  defended  New-England  from  the  injuri 
ous  reports  that  had  been  circulated  against  her,  and 
established  anew  the  credit  of  that  large  and  industri 
ous  section  of  the  country.  Though  disapproving  of 
some  of  the  provisions  contained  in  the  amended  bill, 
he  yet  believed  it  an  improvement  in  certain  parti 
culars,  and  gave  it  his  affirmative  vote — a  course 
which  he  deemed  it  but  just  to  explain  to  his  consti 
tuents  upon  his  return  home.  In  a  speech  at  Faneuil 
Hall  he  made  particular  allusion  to  the  circumstances 
of  that  vote,  and  received  the  approval  of  the  people 
of  the  Commonwealth. 

DEBATE  WITH  HAYNE. 

The  next  event  in  Mr.  Webster's  life  was  one 
which  won  imperishable  laurels  for  himself,  and  east 
lustre  upon  the  councils  of  his  country.  It  was  the 
part  he  took  in  the  great  controversy  in  the  Senate 
between  the  North  and  South — between  the  national 
views  of  the  Constitution  which  Mr.  Webster  had 
often  vindicated,  and  the  doctrines  of  State  Rights, 
which  had  been  for  years  so  ably  enforced  by  Mr. 
Calhoun,  and  had  reached  a  position  of  commanding 
influence. 

Gen.  Jackson  had  been  elected  to  the  Presidency 
in  the  Fall  of  1828,  by  an  overwhelming  popular  ma 
jority,  against  John  Quincy  Adams,  whose  adminis- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  33 


tration,  although  marked  by  signal  ability,  and  a 
purity  seldom  paralleled  in  the  recent  history  of  our 
Government,  had  failed  to  fasten  itself  upon  the  pop 
ular  sympathy.  Mr.  Adams  was  a  man  of  sharp  in 
tellect,  multifarious  knowledge,  large  experience  in 
public  affairs,  and  of  cold,  calm  courage,  but  without 
a  spark  of  enthusiasm  in  his  nature,  or  any  of  those 
qualities  which  command  the  attachment  and  secure 
the  support  of  great  masses  of  men.  Gen.  Jackson, 
on  the  contrary,  lacking  all  the  faculties  which  his 
opponent  had,  possessed  all  those  which  he  lacked. 
A  man  of  clear  perceptions,  prompt  and  generous  im 
pulses — unflinching  as  a  friend  and  relentless  as  a 
foe — daring  in  action,  and  of  unconquerable  will,  and 
conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country  for  his 
victory  at  New  Orleans  in  the  war  of  1812,  he  had 
come  into  power  by  a  larger  majority  than  had  ever 
before  been  given  to  any  candidate.  And  among  his 
friends  were  those  who  had  before  been  distinguished 
for  devotion  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Crawford.  Mr.  Calhoun  was  chosen  Vice-President 
at  the  same  election.  Thus,  though  overwhelmingly 
strong,  the  Democratic  party  was  really  composed  of 
discordant  materials — being  divided  especially  upon 
the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  our  govern 
ment  rests — Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  friends,  insisting 
upon  a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution,  and 
the  most  rigid  limitation  of  the  powers  of  the  Gene 
ral  Government  under  it,  and  the  other  section  in 
heriting  by  legitimate  descent  the  more  liberal  and 
national  doctrines  of  Madison  and  Monroe,  and  being 
friendly  to  the  protection  of  American  industry,  and 

2* 


34  MEMORIALS  OF 


the  prosecution  of  works  of  internal  improvement. 
Both  these  parties  were,  however,  at  this  time,  unit 
ed  in  cordial  support  of  Gen.  Jackson,  and  in  an 
equally  cordial  hostility  to  the  leaders  of  the  party 
against  which  he  had  been  elected,  and  among  these 
leaders  Mr.  Webster,  of  course,  stood  pre-eminent. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twenty-first  Congress 
opened  in  December,  1829,  Mr.  Calhoun  presiding  in 
the  Senate.  Prominent  among  the  topics  to  which 
political  attention  was  directed,  was  that  of  the  pub 
lic  lands.  Both  parties,  and  especially  both  sections 
of  the  country,  the  North  and  the  South,  were  anxious 
to  secure  the  political  alliance  of  the  "Western  States  ; 
and  although  the  measures  of  each  were  doubtless 
dictated  mainly  by  a  sincere  regard  for  the  public 
good,  it  is  not  uncharitable  to  suppose  that  political 
purposes  had  more  or  less  influence  with  both.  Lit 
tle,  however,  had  been  said  upon  the  subject  until 
Mr.  Foote  of  Connecticut,  on  the  29th  of  December, 
introduced  the  following  apparently  innocent  resolu 
tion  of  inquiry : — 

Resolved — That  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands 
be  instructed  to  inquire  and  report  the  quantity  of 
public  lands  remaining  unsold  within  each  State  and 
Territory,  and  whether  it  be  expedient  to  limit  for  a 
certain  period  the  sales  of  public  lands,  to  such  lands 
as  have  heretofore  been  offered  for  sale,  and  are  now 
subject  to  entry  at  the  minimum  price.  And  also, 
whether  the  office  of  Surveyor  General,  and  some  of 
the  landed  offices,  may  not  be  abolished,  without 
detriment  to  the  public  service, 

It  has  been  alleged  that  this  resolution  was  in 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  35 

reality  the  signal  and  starting  point  of  a  predetermined 
crusade,  on  the  part  of  General  Jackson's  friends, 
against  New  England,  and   especially  Mr.  Webster, 
as  its  most  conspicuous  and  formidable  representative. 
At  the  time,  however,  no  such  purpose  was  suspected  ; 
and  it  is  only  by  reverting  to  the  concurrent  features 
of  the  case  that  subsequent  examination  has  brought 
circumstantial  evidence  in  support  of  the  charge.    Mr. 
Webster,  it  is  certain,  was  just  at  that  time  made  the 
shining  mark  for  the  combined  attacks  of  the  party  in 
power.    The  party  press  throughout  the  country  sought 
to  evince  its  devotion  to  Gen.  Jackson  by  assault  upon 
Mr.  Webster.     The  leading  friends  of  the  President 
and  Vice-President,  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  and 
throughout  the  country,  aimed  their  most  powerful 
blows  at  his  head,  with  an  energy  and  determination 
which  might  well  suggest  the  suspicion  of  a  precon 
certed  purpose.     It  seems  more  likely,  however,  that 
this  was  simply  the  result  of  the  position  of  parties 
and  of  their  prominent  men.     The  Presidential  con 
test  had  been  marked  by  great  warmth  and  bitterness, 
and  this  zeal  had  not  been  in  the  least  diminished  by 
the  complete  success  by  which  it  had  been  crowned. 
The  dominant  party,  on  the   contrary,  seemed   the 
more  resolute  in  its  purpose  of  destroying  and  anni 
hilating  all  opposition — and  as  New  England  was  the 
citadel  of  that  hostility,  and  Mr.  Webster  the  solitary 
but  formidable  champion  who  defended  its  gates,  and 
hurled  the  crushing  missiles  of  war  from  its  uncon- 
quered  towers,  it  was  natural,  and  indeed  inevitable, 
that  their  main  assault  should  be  turned  against  him, 
and  the  section  which  he  represented.     The  day  after 


36  MEMORIALS    OF 


Mr.  Foote  offered  his  resolution,  on  calling  it  up  for 
consideration,  he  said  he  had  presented  it  from  having 
seen  a  statement  in  the  last  report  of  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Land  Office,  that  the  quantity  of  land  remain 
ing  unsold  at  the  minimum  price  of  one  dollar  and  a 
quarter  per  acre,  exceeded  seventy-two  millions  of 
acres — while  the  annual  demand  was  not  likely  greatly 
to  exceed  one  million  acres — and  he  was  desirous  of 
further  official  information  upon  the  subject. 

Senator  Benton,  of  Missouri, — then,  as  now,  wide 
awake  and  keenly  suspicious  of  designs  upon  himself 
and  the  West,  whenever  any  Western  topic  was 
touched  in  debate. — scented  the  battle  afar  off,  in  this 
formal  and  ostensibly  harmless  resolution.  He  stig 
matized  it  at  once  as  a  resolution  of  inquiry  into  the 
expediency  of  committing  a  serious  injury  upon  the 
new  States  of  the  West.  Mr.  Foote  earnestly  dis 
claimed  any  such  purpose,  and  several  other  Senators 
vindicated  the  resolution  from  any  such  construction. 
After  a  brief  and  colloquial  controversy,  not  wholly 
void  of  feeling,  upon  this  point,  a  motion  was  carried 
postponing  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject 
until  Monday,  the  llth  of  January,  for  which  day  it 
was  made  the  special  order.  When  that  day  arrived 
it  was  again  postponed  until  the  13th  ;  and  then,  after 
several  Western  gentlemen  had  spoken  briefly  upon 
it,  it  was  laid  over  until  Monday,  the  18th.  On  that 
day,  and  evidently  after  much  preparation,  and  an 
evident  nursing  of  his  political  wrath,  Mr.  Benton 
took  the  floor  against  the  resolution.  His  speech 
was  the  development  of  the  idea  he  had  put  forth  at 
the  outset, — that  the  resolution  was  aimed  at  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  37 


West ;  arid  he  proceeded  to  show  that  the  attack  came 
from  New  England,  and  that  it  was  really  directed 
against  him.  "  The  resolution,"  said  he,  "  was  intro 
duced  to  check-mate  my  graduation  bill !  It  was  an 
offer  of  battle  to  the  West !  I  accepted  the  offer ;  I 
am  fighting  the  battle;  some  are  crying  out  and 
hauling  off;  but  I  am  standing  to  it,  and  mean  t<? 
stand  to  it.  I  call  upon  the  adversary  to  come  on 
and  lay  on ;  and  I  tell  him, 

' Damn'd  be  he  that  first  cries  hold, — enough !'" 

Col.  Benton  proceeded  to  a  studied  attack  upon 
New  England, — to  a  denunciation  of  her  policy  to 
wards  the  West  as  illiberal  and  unjust, — and  to  the 
declaration  that  the  West  would  thereafter  look  to 
the  South  for  succor.  This  was  the  key-note  of  the 
debate  that  followed.  The  real  merits  of  the  ques 
tion  rapidly  gave  way  to  a  discussion  of  the  relative 
position  of  different  sections  of  the  country  towards 
it.  The  next  day  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Maine,  replied  at 
length  to  Mr.  Benton.  Other  Senators  also  partici 
pated  in  the  discussion,  and  finally  Col.  Hayne,  of 
South  Carolina,  commenced  a  speech  which  consumed 
the  rest  of  the  day. 

Hayne  was  one  of  the  younger  Senators, — of  un 
doubted  ability  and  over-confident  courage.  He  had 
filled  with  tclat  successive  offices  of  trust  and  respon 
sibility  in  his  native  State,  and  brought  to  the  Sen 
ate  in  1823  a  brilliant  and  growing  reputation.  His 
characteristics  have  been  well  set  forth  by  Mr.  March 
in  his  "  Reminiscences  of  Congress."  "  Hayne,"  he 
says,  "  dashed  into  debate  like  the  Mameluke  cavalry 


38  MEMORIALS    OF 


upon  a  charge.  There  was  a  gallant  air  about  him, 
that  could  not  but  win  admiration.  He  never  pro 
vided  for  retreat :  he  never  imagined  it.  He  had  an 
invincible  confidence  in  himself,  which  arose  partly 
from  constitutional  temperament,  partly  from  previous 
success.  His  was  the  Napoleonic  warfare:  to  strike 
at  once  for  the  Capitol  of  the  enemy,  heedless  of  dan 
ger  or  loss  to  his  own  forces.  Not  doubting  to  over 
come  all  odds,  he  feared  none,  however  seemingly 
superior.  Of  great  fluency  and  no  little  force  of  ex 
pression,  his  speech  never  halted,  and  seldom  fatigued. 
His  oratory  was  graceful  and  persuasive.  An  impas 
sioned  manner,  somewhat  vehement  at  times,  but 
rarely,  if  ever  extravagant :  a  voice  well  modulated 
and  clear :  a  distinct,  though  rapid  enunciation :  a 
confident,  but  not  often  offensive  address :  these,  ac 
companying  and  illustrating  language  well  selected 
and  periods  well  turned,  made  him  a  popular  and 
effective  speaker."  In  his  speech  at  this  stage  of  the 
debate,  Col.  Hayne  took  occasion  to  respond  to  Col. 
Benton,  by  assuring  him  that  the  West  might  always 
count  upon  the  sympathies  of  the  South,  and  by  echo 
ing  and  strengthening  the  assaults  he  had  made  upon 
the  character  and  condition  of  New  England.  He 
alleged  that  the  East  was  not  willing  that  the  public 
lands  should  be  thrown  open  on  easy  terms  to  settlers 
for  fear  of  being  drained  of  its  population.  The 
Eastern  States,  he  said,  had  always  sought  to  retain 
their  population  at  home — "  to  create  a  manufactory 
of  paupers,  who  should  supply  the  manufactories  of 
rich  proprietors,  and  enable  them  to  amass  great 
wealth."  He  followed  up  this  attack  upon  the  policy 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  39 

of  New  England  with  great  bitterness, — character 
izing  her  course  on  the  public  lands  especially,  as 
selfish  and  unprincipled.  Neither  Mr.  Webster  nor 
his  friends  could  help  feeling  sensitive  under  such 
assaults,  and  point  was  given  to  their  resentment  by 
the  belief  that  they  were  mainly  directed  against  Mr. 
Webster  personally,  and  were  intended  as  much  to 
crush  him  as  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  West. 
At  the  previous  session,  Col.  Hayne  had  made  a 
sharp  attack  upon  his  opinions  and  conduct,  to  which, 
however,  he  had  forborne  to  make  any  reply.  But 
upon  this  occasion,  he  felt  called  on  to  respond  ;  and 
on  the  next  day,  therefore,  he  spoke  at  some  length 
in  reply, — confining  himself  clearly  to  the  topic  under 
discussion,  and  referring  only  incidentally  to  the  tem 
per  in  which  the  debate  had  been  conducted  on  the 
part  of  his  opponents.  His  speech  was  little  more, 
indeed,  than  a  very  clear  and  well-digested  historical 
statement  of  the  actual  steps  taken  by  the  General 
Government  in  regard  to  the  public  lands,  and  of  the 
part  which  New  England  had  borne  in  that  action. 
He  depicted  with  graphic  power  the  wonderful  changes 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  Western  States, — their 
rapid  and  marvellous  increase  of  population,  and  the 
almost  magic  transformation  of  their  unbroken  for 
ests  into  the  abodes  of  civilization  and  comfort.  And 
in  regard  to  the  measures  of  the  General  Government 
by  which  this  change  had  been  wrought,  he  "  under 
took  to  say,"  in  general  terms — sustaining  this  state 
ment,  however,  by  reference  to  the  records  of  Con 
gress — that  "  if  you  look  to  the  votes  on  any  one  of 
these  measures,  and  strike  out  from  the  list  of  ayes 


40  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  names  of  New  England  members,  it  will  be  found 
that  in  every  case  the  South  would  then  have  voted 
down  the  West,  and  the  measure  would  have  failed." 
This  sweeping  declaration,  made  with  exactness  and 
emphasis,  was  a  direct  acceptance  of  the  issue  made, 
between  the  North  and  South,  in  regard  to  the  re 
spective  conduct  of  each  section  towards  the  West. 
He  closed  by  apologizing  for  thus  alluding  to  local 
opinions  and  contrasting  different  portions  of  the 
country — a  course  which,  he  said,  had  been  forced 
upon  him  by  charges  and  imputations  on  the  public 
character  and  conduct  of  the  State  which  he  repre 
sented,  which  he  knew  to  be  undeserved  and  unfound 
ed.  "  While  I  stand  here,"  said  he,  "  as  representa 
tive  of  Massachusetts,  I  will  be  her  true  representa 
tive,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I  will  vindicate  her 
character,  motives  and  history  from  every  imputation 
coming  from  a  respectable  source."  Col.  Benton  fol 
lowed  Mr.  Webster,  and  at  once  commenced  a  speech 
in  reply.  The  next  day  (Thursday,  the  21st),  Mr. 
Chambers,  of  Maryland,  expressed  a  hope  that  the 
Senate  would  postpone  the  further  consideration  of 
the  subject  until  the  next  Monday,  as  Mr.  Webster, 
who  desired  to  be  present  whenever  it  should  be  re 
sumed,  had  pressing  engagements  in  another  quarter, 
and  could  not  conveniently  attend  in  the  Senate.  It 
was  well  understood  that  the  legal  case  of  a  good  deal 
of  importance,  in  which  John  Jacob  Astor  and  the 
State  of  New- York  were  parties,  and  in  which  Mr. 
Webster  was  of  counsel — was  pending  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  the  argument  had  actually  commenced 
on  the  20th.  Col.  Hayne,  however,  resented  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  41 


suggestion  of  postponement.  He  said  "  he  saw  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  in  his  seat,  and  pre 
sumed  he  could  make  an  arrangement  which  would 
enable  him  to  attend."  He  was  unwilling  that  the 
subject  should  be  postponed  until  he  could  reply  to 
certain  observations  which  had  fallen  from  Mr.  Web 
ster  the  day  before.  Unable,  and  not  caring,  to  re 
strain  evidences  of  the  feeling  which  Mr.  Webster's 
speech  had  excited,  he  confessed  that  some  things 
had  fallen  from  him  on  that  occasion  which  rankled 
here  (touching  his  heart),  and  he  desired  at  once  to 
relieve  himself.  "  The  gentleman,"  he  said,  "  has  dis 
charged  his  fire  in  the  face  of  the  Senate  ;  and  I  hope 
the  opportunity  will  now  be  afforded  me  of  returning 
the  shot."  The  menaces  implied  in  this  language,  of 
course,  left  Mr.  Webster  no  alternative.  With  swell 
ing  chest  and  lofty  dignity  of  manner,  he  exclaimed : 
"  Let  the  discussion  proceed.  I  am  ready.  I  am 
ready  now  to  receive  the  gentleman's  fire."  The  dis 
cussion,  of  course,  did  proceed.  Col.  Benton  finished 
his  speech ;  and  Mr.  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire,  then 
moved  that  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject 
be  postponed  until  Monday.  This  was  lost  by  a 
party  vote.  And  Col.  Hayne  at  once  commenced  his 
speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Webster. 

He  spoke  on  that  occasion  for  about  an  hour. 
He  began  by  disavowing  having  had  any  purpose  of 
charging  any  section  of  the  country  with  hostility  to 
any  other,  and  by  professing  surprise  at  the  manner 
in  which  his  remarks  had  been  received.  He  had 
questioned  no  man's  opinion  ;  he  impeached  no  man's 
motives.  The  Senator  from  Missouri  had  indeed 


42  MEMORIALS    OF 


charged  upon  the  Northern  States  an  early  and  con 
tinued  hostility  towards  the  West ;  but,  after  deliber 
ating  a  whole  night,  the  gentleman  from  Massachu 
setts  had  come  into  the  Senate  to  vindicate  New 
England,  and,  instead  of  making  up  his  issue  with 
the  gentleman  from  Missouri,  on  the  charge  which 
he  had  preferred,  said  Col.  H.,  "  he  chooses  to  con 
sider  me  as  the  author  of  those  charges  ;  selects  me 
as  his  adversary,  and  pours  out  all  the  vials  of  his 
mighty  wrath  upon  my  devoted  head.  Nor  is  he 
willing  to  stop  there.  He  goes  on  to  assail  the  insti 
tutions  and  policy  of  the  South,  and  calls  in  question 
the  principles  and  conduct  of  the  State  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  represent."  Col.  Hayne  went  on  to 
suggest  reasons  for  this  course  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Webster.  ';  Has  he  discovered,"  he  asked,  "  in  former 
controversies  with  the  gentleman  from  Missouri,  that 
he  is  over-matched  by  that  Senator  ;  and  does  he 
hope  for  an  easy  victory  over  a  more  feeble  adver 
sary  ?  Has  his  distempered  fancy  been  disturbed  by 
gloomy  forebodings  of  the  'new  alliances  to  be 
formed,'  at  which  he  hinted?  Has  the  ghost  of  the 
murdered  Coalition  come  back,  like  the  ghost  of  the 
murdered  Banquo,  to  '  sear  the  eyeballs  '  of  the  gen 
tleman,  and  will  it  not  '  down  at  his  bidding  1 '  Are 
dark  visions  of  broken  hopes  and  honors  lost  for  ever 
still  floating  before  his  heated  imagination  ?  "  And 
he  proceeded  to  say  that  he  would  not  suffer  Mr. 
Webster  thus  to  thrust  him  between  the  gentleman 
from  Missouri  and  himself,  in  order  to  rescue  the 
East  from  the  contest  with  the  West,  which  he  had 
provoked.  "  The  South  shall  not  be  forced  into  a 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  43 


conflict  not  its  own.  The  gallant  West  needs  no  aid 
from  the  South  to  repel  any  attack  which  may  be 
made  on  them  from  any  quarter."  With  this  exor 
dium,  well  calculated  to  stimulate  interest  and  to 
prepare  the  way  for  a  severe  personal  collision,  Col. 
Hayne  went  on  to  repel  the  idea  that  the  West  had 
grown  great  in  consequence  of  the  measures  of  the 
General  Government,  upon  which  Mr.  Webster  had 
pronounced  what  he  styled  an  extravagant  eulogium. 
He  ridiculed  also  the  pretensions  preferred  by  Mr. 
Webster  to  prominence  as  a  statesman,  on  behalf  of 
"  a  certain  Nathan  Dane,  of  Bcverley,  Massachusetts," 
who  was  only  known  to  the  South,  he  said,  as  "  a 
member  of  a  celebrated  Assembly,  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Hartford  Convention."  His  next 
point  was  to  show  that  in  1825  Mr.  Webster  had 
held  and  expressed  upon  the  subject  of  the  public 
lands  precisely  the  views  which  he  himself  had  now 
advanced,  and  which  Mr.  Webster  had  assailed.  "  In 
1825,"  said  he,  "the  gentleman  told  the  world  that 
the  public  lands  i  ought  not  to  be  treated  as  a  trea 
sure.'  He  now  tells  us  that  they  '  must  be  treated 
as  so  much  treasure.'  What  the  deliberate  opinion 
of  the  gentleman  on  this  subject  may  be  belongs  not 
to  me  to  determine  ;  but  I  do  not  think  he  can,  with 
the  shadow  of  justice  or  propriety,  impugn  my  senti 
ments,  while  his  own  recorded  opinions  are  identical 
with  my  own."  Col.  H.  next  took  up  Mr.  Webster's 
claim  that  the  East  had  always  shown  its  friendli 
ness  towards  the  West,  by  favoring  internal  improve 
ments,  from  which  the  South  had  been  deterred  by 
its  constitutional  scruples.  He  alleged,  in  reply,  that 


44  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  only  occasion,  in  which  the  East  had  thus  favored 
the  West  was  in  1825.  when  the  presidential  election 
was  pending  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  There 
it  was,  he  said,  that  "a  happy  union  between  the 
members  of  the  celebrated  coalition  was  consummated, 
whose  immediate  issue  was  a  President  from  one 
quarter  of  the  Union,  with  the  succession,  as  it  was 
supposed,  to  another."  Referring  next  to  the  intima 
tion  thrown  out  by  Mr.  Webster  that  the  extraordi 
nary  fervor  of  the  South  for  the  payment  of  the  na 
tional  debt  arose  from  a  disposition  to  weaken  the 
ties  which  bind  the  people  to  the  Union,  Col.  H.  re 
pudiated  the  idea  for  the  South,  that  a  pecuniary 
dependence  on  the  Federal  Government  was  one  of 
the  legitimate  means  of  holding  the  State  together. 
And  coming  then  to  the  claim  of  Mr.  Webster  that 
the  transcendent  prosperity  of  Ohio  had  been  due  in 
a  great  degree  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  which  had 
"secured  to  her  a  population  of  free  men"  Col.  H. 
entered  into  an  extended  rebuke  of  this  attack  upon 
Southern  slavery,  contrasting  the  condition  of  the 
slaves  with  that  of  the  free  blacks  of  the  North,  de 
nying  that  slavery  was  an  element  of  weakness  to 
the  South,  stigmatizing  the  friendship  professed  for 
the  blacks  as  springing  from  the  spirit  of  false  phi 
lanthropy,  which,  like  the  father  of  evil,  is  constantly 
walking  to  and  fro  about  the  earth,  seeking  whom  it 
may  devour,"  and  claiming  that  slavery  had  been 
the  means  of  greatly  elevating  the  individual  charac 
ter  of  the  Southern  people.  He  next  assailed  Mr. 
Webster's  position  in  regard  to  the  consolidation  of 
the  Government,  provided  for  by  the  Constitution, — 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  45 


insisting  that  the  Union  was  not  designed  to  be  na 
tional  but  federal ;  and,  then  referring  to  the  subject 
of  the  Tariff,  charged  Mr.  Webster  with  glaring  in 
consistency  in  having  advocated  Free  Trade  in  1824, 
and  in  1828  having  supported   the  Tariff  which  had 
been  known  ever  since  as  the  "  bill  of  abominations." 
Colonel  Hayne  closed  his  speech  on  that  day  by 
citing  Mr.  Webster's  intimation  that  there  was  a  par 
ty  in  the  South  who  were  looking  to  disunion.     If 
the  accusation  had  been  vague  and  general,  he  said  he 
should  have  passed  it  without  notice.     But  as  Mr. 
Webster  had  given   to   it   a  local  habitation  and  a 
name,  by  quoting  the  expression  of  a  distinguished 
citizen  of  South  Carolina,  (Dr.  Cooper,)  that  "  it  was 
time  for  the  South   to  calculate  the   value  of   the 
Union,"  and  in  the  language  of  the  bitterest  sarcasm 
to  add,  "  surely  then  the  Union  cannot  last  longer 
than  July,  1831,"  it  was  impossible  to  mistake  either 
the  allusion  or  the  object.     And  he  finished  by  pro 
testing  that  this  controversy  was  not  of  his  seeking  j 
that  at  the  time  this  unprovoked  and  uncalled  for  at 
tack  was  made  upon  the  South,  not  one  word  had 
been  uttered  by  him  in  disparagement  of  New  Eng 
land,  nor  had  he  the  most  distant  allusion  either  to 
the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  or  the  State  which 
he  represents.     c;  But,  sir,"  he  added,  "  that  gentle 
man  has  thought  proper,  for  purposes  best  known  to 
himself,  to  strike  the   South  through  me,  the  most 
unworthy  of  her  servants.     He  has  crossed  the  bor 
der,  he  has  invaded  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  is 
making  war  upon  her  citizens,  and  endeavoring  to 
overthrow  her  principles  and  her  institutions.     Sir, 


46  MEMORIALS    OF 


when  the  gentleman  provokes  me  to  such  a  conflict, 
I  meet  him  at  the  threshold.  I  will  struggle  while  I 
'have  life,  for  our  altars  and  our  firesides — and  if 
God  gives  me  strength,  I  will  drive  back  the  invader 
discomfited.  Nor  shall  I  stop  there.  If  the  gentle 
man  provokes  the  war,  he  shall  have  war.  Sir,  I  will 
not  stop  at  the  border — I  will  carry  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  territory,  and  not  consent  to  lay  down  my 
arms  until  I  have  obtained  indemnity  for  the  past 
and  security  for  the  future.  It  is  with  unfeigned  re 
luctance,  Mr.  President,  that  I  enter  upon  the  per 
formance  of  this  part  of  my  duty — I  shrink  almost 
instinctively  from  a  course,  however  necessary,  which 
may  have  a  tendency  to  excite  sectional  feelings  and 
sectional  jealousies.  But,  sir,  the  task  has  been 
forced  upon  me ;  and  I  proceed  right  onward  to  the 
performance  of  my  duty.  Be  the  consequences  what 
they  may,  the  responsibility  is  with  those  who  have 
imposed  upon  me  the  necessity.  The  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  has  thought  proper  to  cast  the  first 
stone ;  and  if  he  shall  find,  according  to  a  homely 
adage,  that  he  '  lives  in  a  glass-house,'  on  his  head 
be  the  consequences."  And  with  this  formidable 
warning,  savoring  far  more  of  arrogant  confidence 
than  of  dignity  and  good  taste,  Col.  Hayne  gave  way 
to  a  motion  to  adjourn  until  Monday,  which  was  car 
ried.  The  intervening  time  was  spent  in  preparing 
to  rivet  and  strengthen  the  impression  already  made 
against  Mr.  Webster.  The  boldness  of  the  attack, 
the  direct  personality  which  the  debate  had  assumed, 
and  the  vehemence  of  the  orator's  language  and  man 
ner,  had  given  great  force  to  the  speech  •  and  it  was 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  47 


generally  felt  that  he  had  made  a  formidable  and  ef 
fective  onset.      Colonel  Hayne  was  warmly  congra 
tulated  by  all  his  party  friends  upon  his  success,  and 
was   stimulated    to   renewed    assaults.      The    party 
press  swelled  the  acclamations  with  which  his  speech 
was  greeted,  and  extolled  it  as  the  greatest  effort  of 
ancient  or  of  modern  times.     Mr.  Webster's  friends, 
moreover,  were  not  free  from  misgivings.     Though 
by  no  means  lacking  confidence  in  the  ability  of  their 
great  leader,  they  had  never  seen  him  exposed  to  an 
attack  of  precisely  this   character,   and  could   not, 
therefore,  be  fully  assured  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
he  would  meet 'it.     Some  of  the  friends  of  Colonel 
Hayne.  it  is  said,  who  had  felt  Mr.  Webster's  power 
directed  against  themselves,  were  by  no  means  sure 
that  the  victory  would  rest  with  their  own  champion. 
To  a  friend  of  Hayne,  who  was  praising  his  speech, 
Mr.  Iredell,  of  South   Carolina,  remarked  ;  u  He  has 
started  the  lion,  but  wait  till  we  hear  him  roar,  or 
feel  his    claws."      On    Monday,   in    continuing    his 
speech,  Col.  Hayne  spoke,  first,  in  impassioned  terms 
of  the  services  rendered  to  the  country  by  South  Ca 
rolina,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  in  the  poli 
tical  crisis  of  1798,  and  during  the  war  of   1812; 
and  he  then  proceeded  to  a  detailed  denunciation  of 
the  conduct  of  New  England,  and  especially  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  in  that  contest  with  Great  Britain,  al 
leging  that  they  had  taken  sides  with  the  enemy  and 
against  their  own  country,  and  sustaining  his  accusa 
tions  by  conious  citations  from  the  federal  newspa 
pers,  partisan  speeches,  and  the  pulpit  declamations 
of  that  day.     He  then  entered  upon   an  exposition 


48  MEMORIALS    OF 


and  vindication  of  the  theory  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  as  held  by  the  South,  in  opposition  to  the  the 
ory  of  Consolidation,  for  which,  as  he  alleged.  Mr. 
Webster  was  contending,  quoting  Jefferson  and  Mad 
ison,  and  resolutions  passed  by  the  Legislatures  of 
several  Southern  States,  in  support  of  his  view,  and 
closing  his  speech  by  an  earnest  declaration  that  in 
all  the  steps  she  had  taken  to  resist  the  encroach 
ments  and  usurpations  of  the  Federal  Government, 
South  Carolina  was  acting  on  a  principle  she  had  al 
ways  held  sacred,  "  resistance  to  unauthorized  taxa 
tion."  "  Sir,"  he  exclaimed  in  conclusion,  "  if  acting 
on  these  high  motives — if  animated  by  that  ardent 
love  of  liberty  which  has  always  been  the  most  prom 
inent  trait  of  the  Southern  character — we  should  be 
hurried  beyond  the  bounds  of  a  cold  and  calculating 
prudence,  who  is  there  with  one  noble  and  generous 
sentiment  in  his  bosom,  that  would  not  be  disposed, 
in  the  language  of  Burke,  to  exclaim,  '  You  must 
pardon  something  to  the  spirit  of  Liberty.' " 

The  onset  was  over.  And,  as  would  have  been 
the  case  had  the  attack  been  less  formidable  than  it 
was,  victory  rested  with  the  only  party  whose  forces 
had  been  displayed.  Mr.  Webster  immediately  rose 
to  reply,  but,  as  it  was  late  in  the  day,  he  gave  way 
to  a  motion  to  adjourn.  Everywhere  during  the 
evening  and  night  following,  the  speech  was  canvassed. 
"The  town,"  says  Mr.  March,  "was  divided  into 
geographical  opinions.  One's  home  could  be  distin 
guished  from  his  countenance  or  manner;  a  Southern 
er's  by  his  buoyant,  joyous  expression  and  confident 
air ;  a  Yankee's  by  his  timid,  anxious  eye  and  de' 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  49 


pressed  bearing.  One  walked  with  a  bold  determin 
ed  step  that  courted  observation  ;  the  other  with  a 
hesitating,  shuffling  gait,  that  seemed  to  long  for 
some  dark  corner,  some  place  to  hear  and  see,  and  be 
unseen."  Mr.  Webster  felt  entirely  conscious  of  abi 
lity  to  meet  both  the  argument  and  the  assault,  and 
was  perfectly  calm  and  self-possessed.  Mr.  Everett, 
recording  a  conversation  which  he  had  with  Mr. 
Webster  at  the  time,  speaks  of  the  dry  business-tone 
in  which  he  talked  and  read  over  to  him,  the  points 
he  intended  to  make,  as  giving  him  some  uneasiness 
for  fear  he  was  not  sufficiently  aware  how  much  was 
expected  of  him  the  next  day.  He  had,  of  course, 
taken  full  notes  of  Col.  Hayne's  speech,  and  had 
given  to  each  part  of  it  a  careful  and  exhaustive  con 
sideration.  Not  a  quotation  nor  an  allusion  had  es 
caped  him.  It  is  mentioned  that,  while  lying  down 
after  dinner,  he  was  overheard,  by  a  friend,  laughing 
to  himself.  On  being  asked  what  amused  him  so,  he 
replied,  "  I  have  been  thinking  of  the  way  in  which 
Col.  Hayne's  quotation  about  Banquo's  ghost,  can  be 
turned  against  himself ;  and  I  am  going  to  get  up 
and  make  a  note  of  it," — which  he  immediately  did. 
The  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  next  day  are  so  vi 
vidly  presented  in  one  of  the  chapters  of  Mr.  March's 
Reminiscences,  and  the  sketch  has  so  much  of  liter 
ary,  as  well  as  biographical  interest,  that  we  transfer 
it,  with  trifling  omissions,  to  our  columns. 

It  was  on  Tuesday,  January  the  26th,   1830, — a 

day  to  be  hereafter  for  ever  memorable  in  Senatorial 

annals, — that  the  Senate  resumed  the  consideration 

of  Foote's  Resolution.     There  never  was  before,    in 

8 


50  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  city,  an  occasion  of  so  much  excitement.  To 
witness  this  great  intellectual  contest,  multitudes  of 
strangers  had  for  two  or  three  days  previous  been 
rushing  into  the  city,  and  the  hotels  overflowed.  As 
early  as  9  o'clock  of  this  morning,  crowds  poured  into 
the  Capitol  in  hot  haste;  at  12  o'clock,  the  hour  of 
meeting,  the  Senate  Chamber, — its  galleries,  floors, 
and  even  lobbies, — was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity. 
The  very  stairways  were  dark  with  men,  who  hung  on 
to  one  another,  like  bees  in  a  swarm. 

The  House  of  Representatives  was  early  deserted. 
An  adjournment  would  have  hardly  made  it  emptier. 
The  Speaker,  it  is  true,  retained  his  chair,  but  no 
business  of  moment  was,  or  could  be  attended  to. 
Members  all  rushed  in  to  hear  Mr.  Webster,  and  no 
call  of  the  House  or  other  parliamentary  proceedings 
could  compel  them  back.  The  floor  of  the  Senate 
was  so  densely  crowded  that  persons  once  in,  could 
not  get  out,  nor  change  their  position ;  in  the  rear  of 
the  Vice -Presidential  chair,  the  crowd  was  particu 
larly  intense.  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  then  a  representa 
tive  from  Alabama,  became  wedged  in  here.  From 
his  enormous  size,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  move, 
without  displacing  a  vast  portion  of  the  multitude. 
Unfortunately  too,  for  him,  he  was  jammed  in  directly 
behind  the  chair  of  the  Yice-President,  where  he 
could  not  see,  and  hardly  hear,  the  speaker.  By 
slow  and  laborious  effort — pausing  occasionally  to 
breathe,  he  gained  one  of  the  windows,  which,  con 
structed  of  painted  glass,  flank  the  chair  of  the  Vice- 
President  on  either  side.  Here  he  paused  unable  to 
make  more  headway.  But  determined  to  see  Mr. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  51 


Webster  as  he  spoke,  with  his  knife  he  made  a  large 
hole  in  one  of  the  panes  of  the  glass ;  which  is  still 
visible  as  he  made  it.  Many  were  so  placed,  as  not 
to  be  able  to  see  the  speaker  at  all. 

The  courtesy  of  Senators  accorded  to  the  fairer 
sex  room  on  the  floor — the  most  gallant  of  them, 
their  own  seats.  The  gay  bonnets  and  brilliant  dresses 
threw  a  varied  and  picturesque  beauty  over  the  scene, 
softening  and  embellishing  it. 

Seldom,  if  ever,  has  speaker  in  this  or  any  other 
country  had  more  powerful  incentives  to  exertion  ;  a 
subject,  the  determination  of  which,  involved  the 
most  important  interests,  and  even  duration,  of  the 
republic ;  competitors,  unequalled  in  reputation,  abi 
lity,  or  position ;  a  name  to  make  still  more  glorious, 
or  lose  for  ever;  an  audience  comprising  not  only 
persons  of  this  country  most  eminent  in  intellectual 
greatness,  but  representatives  of  other  nations,  where 
the  art  of  eloquence  had  flourished  for  ages.  All 
the  soldier  seeks  in  opportunity  was  here. 

Mr.  Webster  perceived,  and  felt  equal  to  the 
destinies  of  the  moment.  The  very  greatness  of  the 
hazard  exhilarated  him.  His  spirits  rose  with  the 
occasion.  He  awaited  the  time  of  the  onset  with  a 
stern  and  impatient  joy.  He  felt  like  the  war-horse 
of  the  Scriptures, — who  "  paweth  in  the  valley,  and 
rejoiceth  in  his  strength  :  who  goeth  on  to  meet  the 
armed  men, — who  sayeth  among  the  trumpets,  Ha, 
ha  !  and  who  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder 
of  the  captains  and  the  shouting." 

A  confidence  in  his  own  resources,  springing  from 
no  vain  estimate  of  his  power,  but  the  legitimate  off- 


52  MEMORIALS    OF 


spring  of  previous  severe  mental  discipline  sustained 
and  excited  him.  He  had  gauged  his  opponents,  his 
subject  and  himself. 

He  was  too,  at  this  period,  in  the  very  prime  of 
manhood.  He  had  reached  middle  age — an  era  in 
the  life  of  man,  when  the  faculties,  physical  or  intel 
lectual,  may  be  supposed  to  attain  their  fullest  organ 
ization,  and  most  perfect  development.  Whatever 
there  was  in  him  of  intellectual  energy  and  vitality, 
the  occasion,  his  full  life  and  high  ambition,  might 
well  bring  forth. 

He  never  rose  on  an  ordinary  occasion,  to  address 
an  ordinary  audience,  more  self-possessed.  There 
was  no  tremulousness  in  his  voice  or  manner  ]  noth 
ing  hurried,  nothing  simulated.  The  calmness  of 
superior  strength  was  visible  everywhere  ;  in  counte 
nance,  voice  and  bearing.  A  deep-seated  conviction 
of  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  emergency, 
and  of  his  ability  to  control  it,  seemed  to  possess 
him  wholly.  If  an  observer,  more  than  ordinarily 
keen-sighted,  detected  at  times  something  like  exul 
tation  in  his  eye,  he  presumed  it  sprang  from  the 
excitement  of  the  moment,  and  the  anticipation  of 
victory. 

The  anxiety  to  hear  the  speech  was  so  intense,  ir 
repressible  and  universal,  that  no  sooner  had  the 
Vice-President  assumed  the  chair,  than  a  motion  was 
made,  and  unanimously  carried,  to  postpone  the  ordi 
nary  preliminaries  of  senatorial  action,  and  take  up, 
immediately,  the  consideration  of  the  resolution. 

Mr.  Webster  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate.  His 
exordium  is  known  by  heart  everywhere  :  "  Mr.  Presi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  53 


dent,  when  the  mariner  has  been  tossed  for  many 
days  in  thick  weather,  and  on  an  unknown  sea.  he 
naturally  avails  himself  of  the  first  pause  in  the 
storm,  the  earliest  glance  of  the  sun,  to  take  his  lati 
tude,  and  ascertain  how  far  the  elements  have  driven 
him  from  his  true  course.  Let  us  imitate  this  pru 
dence  ;  and  before  we  float  further  on  the  waves  of 
this  debate,  refer  to  the  point  from  which  we  depart 
ed,  that  we  may,  at  least,  be  able  to  form  some  con 
jecture  where  we  now  are.  I  ask  for  the  reading  of 
the  resolution." 

There  wanted  no  more  to  enchain  the  attention. 
There  was  a  spontaneous,  though  silent  expression  of 
eager  approbation,  as  the  orator  concluded  these  open 
ing  remarks ;  and  while,  the  Clerk  read  the  resolu 
tion,  many  attempted  the  impossibility  of  getting 
nearer  the  speaker.  Every  head  was  inclined  closer 
towards  him,  every  ear  turned  in  the  direction  of  his 
voice — and  that  deep,  sudden,  mysterious  silence  fol 
lowed,  which  always  attends  fulness  of  emotion. 
From  the  sea  of  upturned  faces,  before  him,  the  ora 
tor  beheld  his  thoughts  reflected  as  from  a  mirror. 
The  varying  countenance,  the  suffused  eye,  the  ear 
nest  smile,  and  ever-attentive  look,  assured  him  of 
his  audience's  entire  sympathy.  If  among  his  hear 
ers  there  were  those  who  affected,  at  first,  an  indiffer 
ence  to  his  glowing  thoughts  and  fervent  periods,  the 
difficult  mask  was  soon  laid  aside,  and  profound,  un 
disguised,  devoted  attention  followed.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  his  speech,  one  of  his  principal  opponents 
seemed  deeply  engrossed  in  the  careful  perusal  of  a 
newspaper  he  held  before  his  face ;  but  this,  on  near- 


64  MEMORIALS    OF 


er  approach,  proved  to  be  upside  down.  In  truth, 
all,  sooner  or  later,  voluntarily,  or  in  spite  of  them 
selves,  were  wholly  carried  away  by  the  eloquence  of 
the  orator. 

One  of  the  happiest  retorts  ever  made  in  a  foren 
sic  controversy,  was  his  application  of  Hayne's  com 
parison  of  the  ghost  of  the  "  murdered  coalition  "  to 
the  Ghost  of  Banquo : 

"Sir,  the  honorable  member  was  not,  for  other 
reasons,  entirely  happy  in  his  allusions  to  the  story 
of  Banquo's  murder  and  Banquo's  ghost.  It  was 
not,  I  think,  the  friends,  but  the  enemies  of  the  mur 
dered  Banquo,  at  whose  bidding  his  spirit  would  not 
down.  The  honorable  gentleman  is  fresh  in  his 
reading  of  the  English  classics,  and  can  put  me  right 
if  I  am  wrong ;  but,  according  to  my  poor  recollec 
tion,  it  was  at  those  who  had  begun  with  caresses  and 
ended  with  foul  and  treacherous  murder,  that  the 
gory  locks  were  shaken.  The  ghost  of  Banquo,  like 
that  of  Hamlet,  was  an  honest  ghost.  It  disturbed 
no  innocent  man.  It  knew  where  its  appearance 
would  strike  terror,  and  who  would  cry  out  'A  ghost!' 
It  made  itself  visible  in  the  right  quarter,  and  com 
pelled  the  guilty  and  the  conscience-smitten,  and 
none  others,  to  start,  with, 

*  Prithee,  see  thei'e !  behold !  look !  lo, 
If  I  stand  here,  I  saw  him!' 

Their  eyeballs  were  seared  (was  it  not  so,  sir  ?)  who 
had  thought  to  shield  themselves,  by  concealing  their 
own  hand,  and  laying  the  imputation  of  the  crime  on 
a  low  and  hireling  agency  in  wickedness ;  who  had 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  55 


vainly  attempted  to  stifle  the  workings  of  their  own 
coward  consciences,  by  ejaculating,  through  white  lips 
and  chattering  teeth, '  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it !' 
I  have  misread  the  great  poet  if  those  who  had  no 
way  partaken  in  the  deed  of  death,  either  found  that 
they  were,  or  feared  that  they  should  be,  pushed  from 
their  stools  by  the  ghost  of  the  slain,  or  exclaimed, 
to  a  spectre  created  by  their  own  fears  and  their  own 
remorse,  "  Avaunt !  and  quit  our  sight !" 

There  was  a  smile  of  appreciation  upon  the  faces 
all  around,  at  this  most  felicitous  use  of  another's 
illustration — this  turning  one's  own  witness  against 
him — in  which  Col.  Hayne  good-humoredly  joined. 

As  the  orator  carried  out  the  moral  of  Macbeth, 
and  proved  by  the  example  of  that  deep  thinking, 
intellectual,  but  insanely  ambitious  character,  how 
little  of  substantial  good  or  permanent  power  was  to 
be  secured  by  a  devious  and  unblessed  policy,  he 
turned  his  eye  with  a  significance  of  expression,  full 
of  prophetic  revelation  upon  the  Vice-President,  re 
minding  him  that  those  who  had  foully  removed  Ban- 
quo,  had  placed 

"  A  barren  sceptre  in  their  gripe, 
Thence  to  be  wrenched  by  an  unlineal  hand, 
.At)  son.  ofthelrs  succeeding." 

Every  eye  of  the  whole  audience  followed  the  direc 
tion  of  his  own,  and  witnessed  the  changing  counte 
nance  and  visible  agitation  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 

Surely  no  prediction  ever  met  a  more  rapid  or 
fuller  confirmation,  even  to  the  very  manner  in  which 
the  disaster  was  accomplished.  Within  a  few  brief 


56  MEMORIALS    OF 

months,  the  political  fortunes  of  the  Vice-President, 
at  this  moment  seemingly  on  the  very  point  of  culmi 
nation,  had  sunk  so  low,  there  were  none  so  poor  to 
do  him  reverence. 

Whether,  for  a  moment,  a  presentiment  of  the 
approaching  crisis  in  his  fate,  forced  upon  his  mind 
by  the  manner  and  language  of  the  speaker,  cast  a 
gloom  over  his  countenance,  or  some  other  cause,  it  is 
impossible  to  say ;  but  his  brow  grew  dark — nor  for 
some  time  did  his  features  recover  their  usual  impas 
sibility. 

The  allusion  nettled  him — the  more,  as  he  could 
not  but  witness  the  effect  it  produced  upon  others — 
and  made  him  restless.  He  seemed  to  seek  an  op 
portunity  to  break  in  upon  the  speaker  ;  and,  later  in 
the  day,  as  Mr.  Webster  was  exposing  the  gross  and 
ludicrous  inconsistencies  of  South  Carolina  poli 
ticians,  upon  the  subject  of  internal  improvements, 
he  interrupted  him  with  some  eagerness :  "  Does  the 
Chair  understand  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
to  say  that  the  person  now  occupying  the  Chair  of 
the  Senate  has  changed  his  opinions  on  this  subject?" 
To  this  Mr.  Webster  replied  immediately  and  good- 
naturedly  :  "  From  nothing  ever  said  to  me,  sir,  have 
I  had  reason  to  know  of  any  change  in  the  opinions 
of  the  person  filling  the  Chair  of  the  Senate.  If 
such  change  has  taken  place,  I  regret  it."* 

*  Mr.  Calhoun's  interruption  was  un-Parliamentary,  or  rather, 
un-Senatorial.  The  Vice-President  is  not  a  member  of  the  Sen 
ate,  and  has  no  voice  in  it,  save  for  the  preservation  of  order  and 
enforcement  of  the  rules.  lie  cannot  participate  otherwise,  either 
in  the  debates  or  proceedings.  He  is  simply  the  presiding  offi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  57 


Those  who  had  doubted  Mr.  Webster's  ability  to 
cope  with  and  overcome  his  opponents  were  fully  sat 
isfied  of  their  error  before  he  had  proceeded  far  in 
his  speech.  Their  fears  soon  took  another  direction. 
When  they  heard  his  sentences  of  powerful  thought, 
towering  in  accumulative  grandeur,  one  above  the 
other,  as  if  the  orator  strove,  Titan-like,  to  reach  the 
very  heavens  themselves,  they  were  giddy  with  an  ap 
prehension  that  he  would  break  down  in  his  flight. 
They  dared  not  believe  that  genius,  learning,  any  in 
tellectual  endowment,  however  uncommon,  that  was 
simply  mortal,  could  sustain  itself  Ijong  in  a  career 
seemingly  so  perilous.  They  feared  an  Icarian  fall. 

Ah !  who  can  ever  forget,  that  was  present  to 
hear,  the  tremendous,  the  aivful  burst  of  eloquence 
with  which  the  orator  spoke  of  the  Old  Bay  State  ! 
or  the  tones  of  deep  pathos  in  which  the  words  were 
pronounced : 

"  Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium 


cer  of  the  Senate,  having  no  vote  in  its  affairs,  save  on  a  tie.  Had 
Mr.  Webster  made  a  direct,  unmistakable  allusion  to  him,  Mr. 
Calhoun  still  could  have  replied  through  a  friendly  Senator,  or 
the  press.  On  this  occasion  he  was  too  much  excited  to  attend 
to  the  etiquette  of  his  position.  His  feelings  and  his  interest  in 
the  question  made  him  forgetful  of  his  duty. 

Some  time  later  than  this,  after  a  rupture  had  taken  place  be 
tween  Gen.  Jackson  and  himself,  Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Ga.,  on  being 
interrupted  by  some  (as  he  thought)  uncalled  for  question  or  re 
mark,  rebuked  him  in  an  emphatic  manner  for  violation  of  offi 
cial  etfquette.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  ousted  and  succeeded  him, 
always  remained  silent,  placid,  imperturbable  in  his  scat,  how 
ever  personal  or  severe  the  attack  upon  him  ;  and  no  Vice-Pres 
ident,  since  his  day,  has  ever  attempted  to  interfere  with  the  dis 
cussions  of  the  Senate. 

S* 


68  MEMORIALS 


upon  Massachusetts.  There  she  is — behold  her,  and 
judge  for  yourselves.  There  is  her  history  :  the 
world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is 
secure.  There  is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  Lexing 
ton,  and  Bunker  Hill— and  there  they  will  remain 
for  ever.  The  bones  of  her  eons,  falling  in  the  great 
struggle  for  independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the 
soil  of  every  State,  from  New  England  to  Georgia, 
and  there  they  will  lie  for  ever.  And,  sir.  where 
American  Liberty  raised  its  first  voice ;  and  where 
its  youth  was  nurtured  and  sustained,  there  it  still 
lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood,  and  full  of  its 
original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion  shall  wound 
it — if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall  hawk  at 
and  tear  it— if  folly  and  madness— if  uneasiness,  un 
der  salutary  and  necessary  restraint — =shall  succeed 
to  separate  it  from  that  Union,  by  which  alone  its 
existence  is  made  sure,  it  will  stand,  in  the  end,  by 
the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its  infancy  was 
rocked ;  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm  with  whatever 
of  vigor  it  may  still  retain,  over  the  friends  who 
gather  round  it;  and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it 
must,  amidst  the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own 
glory,  and  on  the  very  spot  of  its  origin." 

What  New  England  heart  was  there  but  throbbed 
with  vehement,  tumultuous,  irrepressible  emotion,  as 
he  dwelt  upon  New  England  sufferings,  New  England 
struggles,  and  New  England  triumphs  during  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  ?  There  was  scarcely  a  dry  eye  in 
the  Senate  ;  all  hearts  were  overcome  ;  grave  judges 
and  men  grown  old  in  dignified  life  turned  aside  their 
j  to  conceal  the  evidences  of  their  emotion. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  59 


In  one  corner  of  the  gallery  was  clustered  a  group 
of  Massachusetts  men.  They  had  hung  from  the  first 
moment  upon  the  words  of  the  speaker,  with  feelings 
variously  but  always  warmly  excited,  deepening 
in  intensity  as  he  proceeded.  At  first,  while  the 
orator  was  going  through  his  exordium,  they  held 
their  breath  and  hid  their  faces,  mindful  of  the 
savage  attack  upon  him  and  New  England,  and  the 
fearful  odds  against  him,  her  champion ; — as  he  went 
deeper  into  his  speech,  they  felt  easier ;  when  he 
turned  Hayne's  flank  on  Banquo's  ghost,  they  breathed 
freer  and  deeper.  But  now,  as  he  alluded  to  Massa 
chusetts,  their  feelings  were  strained  to  the  highest 
tension  ;  and  when  the  orator,  concluding  his  enco 
mium  upon  the  land  of  their  birth,  turned,  inten 
tionally,  or  otherwise,  his  burning  eye  full  upon  them, 
they  shed  tears  like  girls ! 

No  one  who  was  not  present  can  understand  the 
excitement  of  the  scene.  No  one.  who  was,  can  give 
an  adequate  description  of  it.  No  word-painting  can 
convey  the  deep,  intense  enthusiasm,  the  reverential 
attention,  of  the  vast  assembly — nor  limner  transfer 
to  canvas  their  earnest,  eager,  awe-struck  counte 
nances.  Though  language  were  as  subtle  and  flexible 
as  thought,  it  stilj.  would  be  impossible  to  represent 
the  full  idea  of  the  scene.  There  is  something  in 
tangible  in  an  emotion,  which  cannot  be  transferred. 
The  nicer  shades  of  feeling  elude  pursuit.  Every 
description,  therefore,  of  the  occasion,  seems  to  the 
narrator  himself  most  tame,  spiritless,  unjust. 

Much  of  the  instantaneous  effect  of  the  speech 
arose,  of  course,  from  the  orator's  delivery — the  tones 


60  MEMORIALS    OF 


of  his  voice,  his  countenance,  and  manner.*  These 
die  mostly  with  the  occasio'n  that  calls  them  forth — 
the  impression  is  lost  in  the  attempt  at  transmission 
from  one  mind  to  another.  They  can  only  be  de 
scribed  in  general  terms.  "  Of  the  effectiveness  of 
Mr.  Webster's  manner,  in  many  parts,"  says  Mr. 
Everett,  "  it  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  give  any 
one  not  present  the  faintest  idea.  It  has  been  my  for 
tune  to  hear  some  of  the  ablest  speeches  of  the  greatest 
living  orators  on  both  sides  of  the  water,  but  I  must 
confess,  I  never  heard  any  thing  which  so  completely 
realized  my  conception  of  what  Demosthenes  was 
when  he  delivered  the  Oration  for  the  Crown." 

Assuredly,  Kean  nor  Kemble,  nor  any  other  mas 
terly  delineator  of  the  human  passions  ever  produced 
a  more  powerful  impression  upon  an  audience,  or 
swayed  so  completely  their  hearts.  This  was  acting, 
— not  to  the  life, — but  life  itself. 


*  The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Webster  has  been  a  theme 
of  frequent  discussion.  He  was  at  the  time  this  speech  was  de 
livered  twenty  years  younger  than  now.  Time  had  not  thinned 
nor  bleached  his  hair:  it  was  as  dark  as  the  raven's  plumage, 
surmounting  his  massive  brow  in  ample  folds.  His  eyes,  always 
dark  and  deep  set,  enkindled  by  some  glowing  thought,  shone 
from  beneath  his  sombre,  overhanging  brow  like  lights,  in  the 
blackness  of  night,  from  a  sepulchre.  It  was  such  a  countenance 
as  Salvator  Rosa  delighted  to  paint. 

No  one  understood,  or  understands,  better  than  Mr.  Webster, 
the  philosophy  of  dress ;  what  a  powerful  auxiliary  it  is  to 
speech  and  manner,  when  harmonizing  with  them.  On  this  oc 
casion  he  appeared  in  a  blue  coat  and  buff  vest, — the  Revolution 
ary  colors  of  buff  and  blue; — with  a  white  cravat;  a  costume, 
than  which  none  is  more  becoming  to  his  face  and  expression. 
This  courtly  particularity  of  dress  adds  no  little  to  the  influence 
of  his  manner  and  appearance. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  61 


No  one  ever  looked  the  orator,  as  he  did — "  os 
humerosque  deo  similis"  in  form  and  feature  how 
like  a  god.  His  countenance  spake  no  less  audibly 
than  his  words.  His  manner  gave  new  force  to  his 
language.  As  he  stood  swaying  his  right  arm,  like  a 
huge  tilt-hammer,  up  and  down,  his  swarthy  counte 
nance  lighted  up  with  excitement,  he  appeared  amid 
the  smoke,  the  fire,  the  thunder  of  his  eloquence,  like 
Vulcan  in  his  armory  forging  thoughts  for  the  gods ! 

The  human  face  never  wore  an  expression  of  more 
withering,  relentless  scorn,  than  when  the  orator  re 
plied  to  Hayne's  allusion  to  the  "  murdered  coalition." 
"  It  is,"  said  Mr.  W.,  "  the  very  cast-off  slough  of  a 
polluted  and  shameless  press.  Incapable  of  fur 
ther  mischief,  it  lies  in  the  sewer,  lifeless  and 
despised.  It  is  not  now,  sir,  in  the  power  of  the 
honorable  member  to  give  it  dignity  or  decency,  by 
attempting  to  elevate  it,  and  introduce  it  into  the 
Senate.  He  cannot  change  it  from  what  it  is — an 
object  of  general  disgust  and  scorn.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  contact,  if  he  choose  to  touch  it,  is  more 
likely  to  drag  him  down,  down  to  the  place  where  it 
lies  itself."  He  looked,  as  he  spoke  these  words,  as 
if  the  thing  he  alluded  to  was  too  mean  for  scorn 
itself — and  the  sharp,  stinging  enunciation  made  the 
words  still  more  withering.  The  audience  seemed 
relieved, — so  crushing  was  the  expression  of  his  face 
which  they  held  on  to,  as  'twere,  spell-bound, — when 
he  turned  to  other  topics. 

The  good-natured  yet  provoking  irony  with  which 
he  described  the  imaginary  though  lifelike  scene  of 
direct  collision  between  the  marshalled  array  of 


62  MEMORIALS    OF 


South  Carolina  under  General  Hayne  on  one  side,  and 
the  officers  of  the  United  States  on  the  other,  nettled 
his  opponent  even  more  than  his  severer  satire  ;  it  seem 
ed  so  ridiculously  true,  that  Col.  Hayne  inquired,  with 
some  degree  of  emotion,  if  the  gentleman  from  Mas 
sachusetts  intended  any  personal  imputation  by  such 
remarks  ?  To  which  Mr.  Webster  replied,  with  per 
fect  good  humor,  "  Assuredly  not — just  the  reverse." 

The  variety  of  incident  during  the  speech,  and 
the  rapid  fluctuation  of  passions,  kept  the  audience 
in  continual  expectation  and  ceaseless  agitation.  There 
was  no  chord  of  the  heart  the  orator  did  not  strike,  as 
with  a  master  hand.  The  speech  was  a  complete 
drama  of  comic  and  pathetic  scenes  ;  one  varied  ex 
citement  ;  laughter  and  tears  gaming  alternate  victory. 

A  great  portion  of  the  speech  is  strictly  argumen 
tative  ;  an  exposition  of  constitutional  law.  But  grave 
as  such  portion  necessarily  is,  severely  logical,  abound 
ing  in  no  fancy  or  episode,  it  engrossed  throughout 
the  undivided  attention  of  every  intelligent  hearer. 
Abstractions,  under  the  glowing  genius  of  the  orator, 
acquired  a  beauty,  a  vitality,  a  power  to  thrill  the 
blood  and  enkindle  the  affections,  awakening  into 
earnest  activity  many  a  dormant  faculty.  His  pon 
derous  syllables  had  an  energy,  a  vehemence  of  mean 
ing  in  them  that  fascinated,  while  they  startled.  His 
thoughts,  in  their  statuesque  beauty  merely,  would  have 
gained  all  critical  judgment ;  but  he  realized  the 
antique  fable,  and  warmed  the  marble  into  life.  There 
was  a  sense  of  power  in  his  language — of  power  with 
held  and  suggestive  of  still  greater  power, — that 
subdued,  as  by  a  spell  of  mystery,  the  hearts  of  all. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  63 


For  power,  whether  intellectual  or  physical,  produces 
in  its  earnest  development  a  feeling  closely  allied  to 
awe.  It  was  never  more  felt  than  on  this  occasion, 
It  had  entire  mastery.  The  sex,  which  is  said  to 
love  it  best  and  abuse  it  most,  seemed  as  much  or 
more  carried  away  than  the  sterner  one.  Many  who 
had  entered  the  hall  with  light  gay  thoughts,  antici 
pating  at  most  a  pleasurable  excitement,  soon  became 
deeply  interested  in  the  speaker  and  his  subject — 
Surrendered  him  their  entire  heart ;  and,  when  the 
speech  was  over,  and  they  left  the  hall,  it  was  with 
sadder,  perhaps,  but,  surely,  with  far  more  elevated 
and  ennobling  emotions. 

The  exulting  rush  of  feeling  with  which  he  went 
through  the  peroration,  threw  a  glow  over  his 
countenance)  like  inspiration.  Eye,  brow,  each  fea 
ture,  every  line  of  the  face  seemed  touched,  as  with  a 
celestial  fire.  All  gazed,  as  at  something  more  than 
human.  So  Moses  might  have  appeared  to  the  awe 
struck  Israelites,  as  he  emerged  from  the  dark  clouds 
and  thick  smoke  of  Sinai,  his  face  all  radiant  with 
the  breath  of  divinity  ! 

The  swell  and  roll  of  his  voice  struck  upon  the 
ears  of  the  spell-bound  audience,  in  deep  and  melo 
dious  cadence,  as  waves  upon  the  shore  of  the  "  far 
resounding"  sea.  The  Miltonic  grandeur  of  his 
words  was  the  fit  expression  of  his  thought,  and 
raised  his  hearers  up  to  his  theme.  His  voice, 
exerted  to  its  utmost  power,  penetrated  every  re 
cess  and  corner  of  the  Senate — penetrated  even 
the  anterooms  and  the  stairways,  as  he  pronounced 
in  deepest  tones  of  pathos  these  words  of  solemn 


64  MEMORIALS    OF 


significance :  "  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to 
behold,  for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I 
not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored 
fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union  ;  on  States  dis 
severed,  discordant,  belligerent !  on  a  land  rent  with 
civil  feud,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood ! 
Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance  rather 
behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now 
known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still  full 
high  advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in 
their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  nor  polluted, 
not  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no 
such  miserable  interrogatory  as,  '  What  is  all  this 
worth  ? '  Nor  those  other  words  of  delusion  and 
folly, '  Liberty  first  and  Union  afterwards ;'  but  every 
where,  spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living  light, 
blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the 
sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the 
whole  heavens,  that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every 
American  heart,  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  for 
ever,  one  and  inseparable !  " 

The  speech  was  over,  but  the  tones  of  the  orator 
still  lingered  upon  the  ear,  and  the  audience,  uncon 
scious  of  the  close,  retained  their  positions.  The 
agitated  countenance,  the  heaving  breast,  the  suffused 
eye,  attested  the  continued  influence  of  the  spell  upon 
them.  Hands  that  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment 
had  sought  each  other,  still  remained  closed  in  an 
Tinsonscious  grasp.  Eye  still  turned  to  eye,  to  receive 
and  repay  mutual  sympathy  ;  and  everywhere  around 
seemed  forgetfulness  of  all  but  the  orator's  presence 
and  words. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  65 


When  the  Vice-President,  hastening  to  dissolve 
the  spell,  angrily  called  to  order !  order !  there 
never  was  a  deeper  stillness — not  a  movement,  not  a 
gesture  had  been  made — not  a  whisper  uttered.  Or 
der  !  Silence  could  almost  have  heard  itself,  it  was 
so  supernaturally  still.  The  feeling  was  too  over 
powering  to  allow  expression  by  voice  or  hand.  It 
was  as  if  one  was  in  a  trance,  all  motion  paralyzed. 

But  the  descending  hammer  of  the  Chair  awoke 
them,  with  a  start — and  with  one  universal,  long- 
drawn,  deep  breath,  with  which  the  overcharged 
heart  seeks  relief, — the  crowded  assembly  broke  up 
and  departed. 

The  New  England  men  walked  down  Pennsylva 
nia  Avenue  that  clay,  after  the  speech,  with  a  firmer 
step  and  bolder  air — "  pride  in  their  port,  defiance  in 
their  eye."  You  would  have  sworn  they  had  grown 
some  inches  taller  in  a  few  hours'  time.  They  de 
voured  the  way  in  their  stride.  They  looked  every 
one  in  the  face  they  met,  fearing  no  contradiction. 
They  swarmed  in  the  streets,  having  become  miracu 
lously  multitudinous.  They  clustered  in  parties,  and 
fought  the  scene  over  one  hundred  times  that  night. 
Their  elation  was  greater  by  reaction.  It  knew  no 
limits,  or  choice  of  expression.  Not  one  of  them  but 
felt  he  had  gained  a  personal  victory.  Not  one, 
who  was  not  ready  to  exclaim,  with  gushing  eyes,  in 
the  fulness  of  gratitude,  "  Thank  God,  I  too  am  a 
Yankee !" 

In  the  evening  Gen.  Jackson  held  a  levee  at  the 
White  House.  It  was  known,  in  advance,  that  Mr. 
Webster  would  attend  it,  and  hardly  had  the  hospit- 


66  MEMORIALS    OF 


able  doors  of  the  house  been  thrown  open,  when  the 
crowd  that  had  filled  the  Senate-chamber  in  the  morn 
ing  rushed  in  and  occupied  the  rooms.  .Persons  a 
little  more  tardy  in  arriving  found  it  almost  impossi 
ble  to  get  in,  such  a  crowd  oppressed  the  entrance. 

Before  this  evening,  the  General  had  been  the 
observed  of  all  observers.  His  military  and  personal 
reputation,  official  position,  gallant  bearing,  and  cour 
teous  manners,  had  secured  him  great  and  merited 
popularity.  His  receptions  were  always  gladly  at 
tended  by  large  numbers — to  whom  he  was  himself 
the  object  of  attraction. 

But  on  this  occasion,  the  room  in  which  he  re 
ceived  his  company  was  deserted,  as  soon  as  courtesy 
to  the  President  permitted.  Mr.  Webster,  it  was 
whispered,  was  in  the  East  Room,  and  thither  the 
whole  mass  hurried. 

He  stood  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  room, 
hemmed  in  by  eager  crowds,  from  whom  there  was  no 
escape,  all  pressing  to  get  nearer  to  him.  He  seemed 
but  little  exhausted  by  the  intellectual  exertion  of 
the  day,  severe  as  it  had  been.  The  flush  of  excite 
ment  still  lingered  and  played  upon  his  countenance, 
gilding  and  beautifying  it  like  the  setting  sun  its  ac 
companying  clouds. 

All  were  eager- to  get  a  sight  at  him.  Some 
stood  on  tip-toe,  and  some  even  mounted  the  chairs 
of  the  room.  Many  were  presented  to  him.  The 
dense  crowd  entering  and  retiring,  moved  round  him, 
renewing  the  order  of  their  ingression  and  egression, 
continually.  One  would  ask  his  neighbor  :  "  Where 
• — which  is  Webster  ?" — "  There,  don't  you  see  him — 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  67 


that  dark,  swarthy  man,  with  a  great  deep  eye  and 
heavy  brow — that's  Webster."  No  one  was  obliged 
to  make  a  second  inquiry. 

In  another  part  of  the  room  was  Col.  Hayne. 
He,  too,  had  his  day  of  triumph,  and  received  con 
gratulations.  His  friends  even  now  contended  that 
the  contest  was  but  a  drawn  battle,  no  full  victory 
having  been  achieved  on  either  side.  There  was 
nothing  in  his  own  appearance  this  evening  to  indi 
cate  the  mortification  of  defeat.  With  others,  he 
went  up  and  complimented  Mr.  Webster  on  his  bril 
liant  effort ;  and  no  one,  ignorant  of  the  past  strug 
gle,  could  have  supposed  that  they  had  late  been  en 
gaged  in  such  fierce  rivalry.  It  was  said  at  the  time, 
that,  as  Col.  Hayne  approached  Mr.  Webster  to  ten 
der  his  congratulations,  the  latter  accosted  him  with 
the  usual  courtesy,  "  How  are  you,  this  evening,  Col. 
Hayne  ?"  and  that  Col.  Hayne  replied,  good-humor- 
edly.  "  None  the  better  for  you^  sir!" 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Webster  on  this  occasion  is  so 
familiar  to  the  whole  country,  and  this  extended  ex 
tract  gives  so  complete  a  picture  of  its  general  scope, 
that  any  more  specific  outline  of  it  would  be  superflu 
ous.  In  mere  logic,  it  has  often  been  surpassed : — 
but  as  a  reply  to  a  violent  attack, — as  a  defence 
against  a  vehement  and  formidable  assault, — and 
as  combining  all  the  various  qualities  which  such  an 
effort  demands,  it  is  unrivalled  in  the  forensic  his 
tory  of  this  country,  and  has  seldom  been  surpassed 
anywhere.  As  a  masterpiece  in  this  special  depart 
ment  of  eloquence,  it  deserves  careful  study  ;  and  al 
though  a  severe  analysis  of  it  may  detract  something 


68  MEMORIALS    OF 


from  the  popular  estimate  of  its  character,  as  com 
pared  with  the  great  speeches  of  the  master  Orators 
of  the  world,  it  will  only  quicken  the  admiration 
which  it  deserves  for  felicity  of  retort,  adroitness  in 
turning  the  flanks  of  the  attacking  force,  the  logical 
consecutiveness  of  its  historical  statements,  and  the 
grand,  stately,  imaginative  eloquence  of  its  rhetorical 
passages.     No  one  can  read  both  speeches  without 
feeling  that  Hayne's  did  not  deserve  such  a  reply ; 
and   that   the    two    athletes   were    most    unequally 
matched.     Col.  Hayne  replied  to  Mr.  Webster,  con 
fining  himself,  however,  to  the   single  point  of  the 
rights  of  the  General  Government  under  the  Consti 
tution.     Mr.  Webster  rejoined  in  a  brief  restatement 
of  his  argument : — but  this  restatement  was  in  fact 
a  reconstruction  of  it.     He  presented  it  now  divested 
of  all  the  incidental  matter  by  which  it  had  original 
ly  been  embarrassed,  and  without  any  of  the  rhetori 
cal  attendants  which  had  swollen  its  stateliness  and 
rendered  it  far  more  impressive  and  imposing,  but 
which  nevertheless  impaired  its  real  strength.     As  an 
argument  merely,  we   consider  this  second  speech, 
brief  and  unpretending  as  it  is.  decidedly  superior  to 
the  first,  in  the  popularity  of  which,  however,  it  has 
been  completely  overshadowed.    Mr.  Webster's  "  great 
speech,"  as  it  is  universally  known,  produced  a  great 
sensation  throughout  the  country.     It  was  widely  cir 
culated  and  universally  read.     The  debate  continued 
for  some  weeks,  but  the  argument  had  been  exhaust 
ed,  and  the  discussion  was  really  at  an  end.     Mr. 
Webster  received  from  every  quarter  of  the  Union 
the  most  complimentary  congratulations  upon  the  re- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  69 


suit  of  the  contest,  and  upon  the  service  he  had  ren 
dered  the  country.  Massachusetts  passed  resolutions 
of  thanks,  and  the  example  was  followed  by  the  Le 
gislatures  of  several  other  States.  Distinguished 
Southern  gentlemen  added  the  tribute  of  their  praise. 

MR.  WEBSTER  AND  NULLIFICATION. 

Mr.  Webster  continued  to  take  an  active  part  in 
the  business  and  debates  of  the  Senate  throughout 
the  administration  of  General  Jackson  and  his  im 
mediate  successor.  This  period  of  our  history  was 
marked  by  events  of  magnitude  and  permanent  im 
portance.  As  the  characteristic  of  General  Jackson's 
mind  was  an  indomitable  will,  so  his  administration 
was  marked  by  an  exaltation  of  the  Executive  at  the 
expense  of  every  other  department  of  the  Govern 
ment.  Whenever  he  fixed  upon  a  measure  as  desi 
rable,  the  whole  power  at  his  command,  personal  and 
official,  was  directed  to  its  enforcement.  In  one  of 
his  Messages,  indeed,  in  reply  to  objections  that  the 
will  of  the  people,  as  represented  in  Congress,  should 
be  paramount  in  all  cases  of  legislation,  he  advanced 
the  distinct  claim  that  the  popular  sovereignty  was 
in  fact  embodied  in  the  President,  as  he  was  elected 
by  a  direct  vote  of  all  the  people.  This  principle,  and 
the  spirit  which  it  indicated,  began  to  manifest  them 
selves  in  various  acts  of  the  administration,  and  to 
arouse  no  slight  degree  of  opposition  to  its  arbitrary 
character  throughout  the  country. 

General  Jackson  had  been  elected  by  the  union 
of  various  parties.  Mr.  Adams,  his  unsuccessful  com- 


70  MEMORIALS    OF 


petitor,  in  a  letter  written  in  1836,  but  which  has  but 
recently  been  published  in  the  New-York  Daily 
Times,  ascribes  his  defeat  to  the  union  of  four 
distinct  parties  against  him.  "  At  the  election  of 
1825,"  he  says:  "There  were  four  candidates,  three 
of  whom  were  returned  to  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives — besides  a  fifth,  who  had  sunk  by  his  own 
weight  into  the  secondary  rank  of  an  aspirant  to 
the  Vice-Presidency — in  which  he  succeeded  for  the 
moment,  by  the  ruin  of  his  after-prospects,  I  believe, 
for  ever.  My  election  was  effected  in  the  House  by 
the  junction  of  the  fourth  and  excluded  candidate's 
supporters  with  mine,  and  that  operation  produced 
the  subsequent  failure  of  my  re-election,  the  trium 
phal  elevation  of  my  successor,  and  the  irretrievable 
disappointment  of  him  who  had,  as  a  last  resource, 
linked  his  political  fortunes  with  mine,  but  who,  from 
that  hour,  was  deserted  and  betrayed  by  his  own 
party.  They  gained  the  coalition  of  the  three  pre 
ceding  disappointed  candidates,  and  thus  left  me  at 
the  election  of  1828  to  my  own  solitary  strength. 
That  remained  unimpaired,  but  was  unequal  to  the 
contest  with  the  united  power  of  the  four  parties 
combined  against  me,  and  I  fell."  It  was  scarcely 
possible  that  this  union  should  long  exist  unimpaired 
after  the  success  for  which  it  had  been  formed  had 
brought  responsibility  to  be  incurred  and  duties  to 
be  performed.  Mr.  Calhoun,  whose  friendship  had 
been  indicated,  if  not  purchased,  by  being  elected 
Vice-President,  speedily  found  that  he  could  have  in 
that  position  no  special  influence  or  control  in  the 
Government ;  and  the  exclusion  of  all  his  friends 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  71 


from  the  Cabinet,  and  the  appointment,  as  Secretary 
of  State,  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  was  Mr.  Calhoun's 
rival  for  the  succession,  and  as  such  favored  by  Gene 
ral  Jackson,  complete^  the  alienation.  Private  dif 
ferences  aggravated  the  quarrel,  and  it  soon  became 
open  and  "violent.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  disliking  all  ele 
ments  of  strife,  resigned  the  Secretaryship,  and  ac 
cepted  the  Mission  to  England.  But,  while  in  office, 
he  had  given  Mr.  McLane,  then  our  Minister  to  the 
Court  of  St.  James,  instructions  to  seek  concessions 
in  regard  to  our  trade  with  the  British  colonies,  and 
to  represent,  as  an  inducement  to  the  British  Govern 
ment  to  grant  them,  that  the  party  which  had  come 
into  power  would  be  found  more  favorable  to  certain 
interests  which  Great  Britain  wished  to  secure. 
When,  therefore,  his  nomination  came  before  the 
Senate,  its  confirmation  was  strongly  opposed  by  Mr. 
Webster,  who  in  this  had  the  concurrence  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  ;  and  it  was  rejected. 

In  the  Twenty-second  Congress  the  Bank  question 
became  prominent.  At  the  first  session  (1831-2),  a 
bill  had  been  introduced  by  Mr.  Dallas,  providing  for 
a  recharter.  Mr.  Webster  supported  the  bill,  upon 
the  ground  that  the  Bank  was  highly  important  to 
the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Government,  and  to  the 
currency,  exchange  and  general  business  of  the  coun 
try.  The  President  had  called  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  to  the  subject,  without  intimating  any  doubts 
of  the  constitutionality  of  the  Bank.  No  complaints 
had  been  made  of  its  management ;  it  was  in  good 
credit  at  home  and  abroad,  and  was  generally  popular 
as  an  important  agent  in  the  financial  operations  of 


72  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  country.  The  President,  however,  had  endeavored 
to  control  the  appointment  of  some  of  the  officers  in 
one  of  the  Eastern  branches,  and  this  attempt  had 
been  resisted.  This  difference  created  a  feeling  of 
hostility  and  of  mutual -suspicion  between  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  Bank,  and  led  to  that  open  warfare 
which  convulsed  the  country  for  some  years.  The 
bill  passed  both  Houses,  and  was  vetoed  by  General 
Jackson. 

Meantime  the  interest  in  this  subject  was  super 
seded  by  another  of  more  pressing  importance.  In 
South  Carolina  discontent  under  the  Tariff  had 
greatly  increased.  Under  the  operation  of  the  va 
rious  protective  tariffs  which  had  been  enacted  with 
the  concurrence,  and  generally  under  the  lead  of  the 
South,  a  large  manufacturing  interest  had  grown  up 
in  the  Northern  and  Central  States, — while  the  South 
had  not  experienced  similar  benefits  from  them. 
Large  tracts  of  new  lands  recently  opened  to  settle 
ment  near  the  Mississippi,  had  drawn  from  the  worn- 
out  sections  along  the  Atlantic  great  numbers  of  their 
people,  and  the  injurious  results  of  this  process,  as 
well  as  of  other  circumstances,  were  attributed  to  the 
Tariff.  Public  resentment  at  the  South  had  been 
thus  turned  against  the  principle  of  protection,  and 
its  constitutionality  had  been  strongly  denied.  The 
feeling  of  discontent  had  led  to  the  most  hostile  lan 
guage,  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  with  other  leading  men  in 
the  same  section  of  the  country,  had  distinctly  assert 
ed  the  right  of  any  State  to  resist  and  nullify  laws 
which  she  might  conceive  unconstitutional  or  in  vio 
lation  of  her  rights.  Mr.  Webster  had  repeatedly 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  73 


met  Mr.  Calhoun  in  argument  upon  this  question, 
and  had  always  maintained  the  supremacy  of  the 
Constitution  and  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  United 
States  as  the  final  interpreter  of  its  provisions.  In 
some  of  his  speeches,  especially  in  one  made  on  the 
26th  of  January,  1830,  Mr.  Webster  made  a  trium 
phant  vindication  of  the  position  he  had  taken  upon 
this  subject. 

General  Jackson  was,  however,  re-elected  Presi 
dent  in  the  fall  of  1832  ;  and  the  people  of  South  Ca 
rolina  were  at  once  roused  into  the  most  intense  ex 
citement  against  the  North  and  the  protective  policy. 
Public  meetings  were  held  throughout  the  State,  and 
at  a  general  convention,  an  Ordinance  was  adopted, 
declaring  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  tariff  laws, 
and  proclaiming  the  purpose  of  South  Carolina  to  re 
sist  any  attempt  that  might  be  made  to  collect  taxes 
under  them  within  the  limits  of  that  State.  The 
Legislature,  which  met  soon  after,  ratified  the  Ordi 
nance  ;  declared  the  Tariff  acts  unconstitutional,  null, 
and  void ;  directed  the  enrolment  and  enlistment  of 
volunteers,  and  advised  all  the  citizens  to  put  them 
selves  in  military  array.  The  whole  State  was  in 
arms.  Musters  were  held  every  day.  Charleston 
looked  like  a  military  depot,  and  an  immediate  colli 
sion  between  the  State  and  National  forces  was  ap 
prehended.  Colonel  Hayne  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  was  elected  Governor  of 
South  Carolina.  Mr.  Calhoun  resigned  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  and  succeeded  Hayne  in  the  Senate. 
Congress  met  early  in  December,  and  the  vacant 
chair  was  filled  by  the  election  of  Hugh  L.  White,  of 
4 


74  MEMORIALS    OF 


Tennessee,  over  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia — White  re 
ceiving  seventeen,  and  Tyler  fourteen  votes.  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  not  arrived,  and  rumors  were  afloat  that 
General  Jackson  had  threatened  to  arrest  him  on  his 
way,  for  treason  against  the  Government.  What 
course,  indeed,  the  President  would  take  was  not 
known,  but  it  had  been  the  topic  of  current  rumor 
for  some  months  previous.  Mr.  Webster  in  October, 
had  met  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  in  a  public 
meeting  at  Worcester,  and  had  there  rehearsed  the 
dangers  of  the  country,  re-asserted  the  supremacy  of 
the  Constitution,  and  claimed  for  Congress  the  power 
of  providing  for  the  emergency.  He  raised  his  voice 
"  beforehand,  against  the  unauthorized  employment  of 
military  power,  and  against  suspending  the  authority 
of  the  laws,  by  an  armed  force,  under  the  pretence  of 
putting  down  nullification."  Referring  to  a  rumor  of 
General  Jackson's  intended  action,  which  had  been 
widely  current,  he  said :  "  The  President  has  no  au 
thority  to  blockade  Charleston  ;  the  President  has  no 
authority  to  employ  military  force,  till  he  shall  be 
duly  required  to  do  so  by  law  and  by  the  civil  au 
thority.  His  duty  is  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  exe 
cuted.  His  duty  is  to  support  the  civil  authority. 
His  duty  is,  if  the  laws  be  resisted,  to  employ  the 
military  force  of  the  country,  if  necessary,  for  their 
support  and  execution :  but  to  do  all  this  in  compli 
ance  only  with  law  and  with  decisions  of  tribunals." 
The  course  pursued  by  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
roused  the  President  from  the  inactivity  which  had 
only  concealed,  but  had  not  prevented,  a  vigilant  pre 
paration  for  the  rising  storm.  Confidential  orders 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  75 


were  issued  to  the  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  active  service.     Ge 
neral  Winfield  Scott  was  sent  to  Charleston,  to  take 
such  steps  as  he  might  deem  necessary  to  preserve 
the  authority  of  the  Government.     Prudent  and  re 
solute  men  were  stationed  at  the  proper  posts ;  arms 
and  munitions  of  war  were  provided,  and  due  prepa 
ration  was  made  for  all  contingencies.     On  the  1 1th 
of  December,  1832,  the  President  issued  a  Proclama 
tion,  written  by  Mr.   Edward  Livingston,  who  had 
succeeded  Mr.   Yan  Buren  as   Secretary   of  State, 
from  notes  furnished  by  General  Jackson  himself; 
and  taking,  substantially,  the  ground  which  Mr.  Web 
ster  had  uniformly  maintained  in  debate  upon  the 
subject.     A  counter-Proclamation   was   at   once   is 
sued  by  Governor  Hayne ;    and  laws  were   at    once 
passed  by  the  Legislature  for  putting  the  State  in  a 
condition  to  carry  on  war  with  the  General  Govern 
ment.     United   States  troops  were  collected  at  va 
rious  points  ;  and  on  the  other  side,  the  militia  were 
drilled,    muskets  cleaned,   foreign   officers   tendered 
their  services  to  the  Governor,  and  every  thing  indi 
cated  the  speedy  approach  of  civil  war.     At  a  large 
meeting  of  Nullifiers,  held  at    Charleston,   Colonel 
Preston,  one  of  their  leading  men,  set  forth  the  state 
of  the   case  by  declaring  that  "  there   were  sixteen 
thousand  back-countrymen  with  arms  in  their  hands 
and  cockades  in  their  hats,  ready  to  march  to  that 
city  at  a  moment's  notice  ;  and  the  moment  Congress 
shall  pass  the  laws  recommended  by  the  President  in 
relation  to   our  port,  I  will  pour  down  a  torrent  of 
volunteers,  that  shall  sweep  the  myrmidons  of  the 


76  MEMORIALS    OF 


tyrant  from  the  soil  of  Carolina."  Mr.  Calhoun  did 
not  reach  Washington  until  January.  On  the  4th  of 
that  month  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  received 
the  congratulations  of  the  members  of  that  body,  and, 
in  the  midst  of  a  crowded  and  eager  assembly,  took  the 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
In  a  few  days  he  moved  for  a  call  upon  the  President 
for  copies  of  the  Proclamation,  and  of  the  counter-Pro 
clamation  of  Governor  Hayne.  These  were  communi 
cated  by  the  President  on  the  16th  of  January  ;  and  on 
the  21st  the  "Force  Sill"  as  it  was  called,  "  making 
further  provision  for  the  collection  of  the  revenue,"  was 
reported  by  Mr.  Wilkins,  from  Pennsylvania,  on  behalf 
of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  It  gave  the  President  the 
largest  powers  over  the  men  and  money  of  the  nation, 
to  put  down  any  armed  resistance  to  the  revenue 
laws  of  the  United  States.  Upon  this  bill,  and  up 
on  resolutions  which  he  introduced,  embodying  his 
general  views  on  the  right  of  a  State  to  annul  uncon 
stitutional  laws  of  Congress,  Mr.  Calhoun  made,  on 
the  15th  and  16th  of  February,  the  ablest  argument 
ever  advanced  in  support  of  his  position.  The  de 
bate,  previous  to  that  time,  had  been  shared  by  va 
rious  Senators,  and  had  been  marked  by  various  in 
cidents.  Mr.  Webster  had  maintained  silence,  ex 
cept  in  one  or  two  instances,  where  he  had  thrown  in 
a  suggestion  upon  some  incidental  point.  Of  this 
nature  was  a  remark  which  he  made,  when  there 
seemed  to  be  a  general  disposition  to  attack  the  bill, 
passing  over  the  proclamation.  Mr.  Webster  desired 
it  should  be  known,  once  for  all,  "  that  this  was  an 
Administration  measure  ;  that  it  is  the  President's 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  77 

own  measure  ;  and  I  pray,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  to 
have  the  goodness,  if  they  call  it  hard  names,  and 
talk  boldly  against  its  friends,  not  to  overlook  its 
source.  Let  them  attack  it,  if  they  choose  to  attack 
it,  in  its  origin."  He  had  declined  an  invitation  to 
speak  upon  the  subject,  so  long  as  Mr.  Calhoun  had 
kept  silent,  or  so  long  as  the  advantage  in  debate 
seemed  to  rest  on  the  other  side.  But  Mr.  Calhoun's 
speech  on  this  occasion  called  him  out. 

Mr.  Calhoun's  speech  was  awaited  with  great 
anxiety,  and  heard  with  eager  interest.  He  was  con 
sidered,  beyond  the  bounds  of  his  own  State  and 
party,  as  a  bold,  bad  man.  An  all-devouring,  un 
scrupulous  personal  ambition  was  popularly  supposed 
to  have  driven  him  into  this  position  of  a  conspirator 
against  the  Constitution.  He  was  daily  denounced 
as  John  Catiline  Calhoun,  by  the  special  organ  of 
the  President,  the  Globe,  and  by  the  people  at  large 
he  was  feared  as  such.  His  personal  appearance,  as 
is  remarked  by  the  author  already  largely  quoted, 
"  answered  well  the  preconceived  idea  of  a  conspira 
tor.  Tall,  gaunt,  and  of  a  somewhat  stooping  figure, 
with  a  brow  full,  well-formed  but  receding ;  hair,  not 
reposing  on  the  head,  but  starting  from  it  like  the 
Gorgon's ;  a  countenance,  expressive  of  unqualified 
intellect,  the  lines  of  which  seemed  deeply  gullied  by 
intense  thought ;  an  eye  that  watched  every  thing 
and  revealed  nothing,  ever  inquisitive,  restless  and 
penetrating ;  and  a  manner  emphatic,  yet  restrained, 
determined  but  cautious ;  persons  who  knew  not  his 
antecedents,  nor  his  actual  position,  would  have  point 
ed  him  out  as  one  that  might  meditate  great  and  dan- 


78  MEMORIALS    OF 


gerous  pursuits.  To  an  audience,  already  embittered, 
he  seemed  to  realize  the  full  idea  of  a  conspirator." 
His  speech  was  a  master-piece  of  direct,  simple,  un 
adorned  argumentation.  It  very  far  surpassed,  in 
every  respect,  the  previous  effort  of  Mr.  Hayne.  Its 
tone  was  that  of  injured  innocence, — claiming  always 
that  South  Carolina  was  the  party  wronged,  repelling, 
with  calm  and  sorrowful  dignity,  the  imputations 
which  had  been  thrown  out  against  himself,  lamenting 
plaintively  the  decay  of  fraternal  feeling  between  dif 
ferent  members  of  the  Union,  and  sustaining  by  an 
elaborate  argument  of  great  cogency,  the  right  of  a 
State — not  to  resist  the  Constitution,  not  even  to 
judge  of  the  exercise  by  the  General  Government  of 
any  power  which  it  delegates — but  to  repudiate  ut 
terly  every  assumption  of  power  not  delegated,  and 
to  resist,  as  null  and  void,  every  law  that  may  be 
passed  under  any  such  assumption.  His  speech  ex 
tended  through  two  days : — and  he  closed  by  chal 
lenging  the  opponents  of  his  doctrine  to  disprove 
them,  and  warned  them,  in  the  concluding  sentence, 
that  the  principles  they  might  advance  would  be  sub 
jected  to  the  revision  of  posterity. 

Mr.  Webster  rose  immediately  and  entered  upon 
a  reply.  He  had  been  looked  to,  not  only  by  his  own 
political  friends,  but  by  the  President  and  his  party,  as 
the  champion  upon  whom  would  devolve  the  defence 
of  the  ground  they  had  taken.  The  bill  had  received 
prompt  modification,  in  several  respects,  upon  his  re 
quirement. — and  had  thus  been  brought  into  more 
full  conformity  with  the  views  he  had  expressed  at 
Worcester.  His  speech  on  this  occasion  is  one  of  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  79 


best  he  ever  made.  Less  showy,  it  is  more  logical, 
than  his  reply  to  Hayne,  and  although  it  produced  a 
less  powerful  impression  at  the  time  upon  the  audi 
ence  which  heard  it,  it  will  be  far  more  frequently  re 
ferred  to  hereafter  for  the  argument  it  embodies. 
He  stated  the  theory  of  Mr.  Calhoun  in  a  few  brief 
sentences,  stripping  it  of  all  the  qualifications  by 
which  that  master  of  language  and  of  thought  had 
concealed  its  real  meaning. 

"  Beginning  with  the  original  error,  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  is  nothing  but  a  com 
pact  between  Sovereign  States  ;  asserting  in  the  next 
step,  that  each  State  has  a  right  to  be  its  own  sole 
judge  of  the  extent  of  its  own  obligations,  and,  conse 
quently,  of  the  constitutionality  of  laws  of  Congress  ; 
and  in  the  next,  that  it  may  oppose  whatever  it  sees 
fit  to  declare  unconstitutional,  and  that  it  decides  for 
itself  on  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress,  the  argu 
ment  arrives  at  once  at  the  conclusion,  that  what  a 
State  dissents  from,  it  may  nullify;  what  it  opposes, 
it  may  oppose  by  force ;  what  it  decides  for  itself,  it 
may  execute  by  its  own  power ;  and  that,  in  short,  it 
is  itself  supreme  over  the  legislation  of  Congress,  and 
supreme  over  the  decisions  of  the  national  judicature 
— supreme  over  the  Constitution  of  the  country — su 
preme  over  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  However 
it  seeks  to  protect  itself  against  these  plain  inferences, 
by  saying  that  an  unconstitutional  law  is  no  law,  and 
that  it  only  opposes  such  laws  as  are  unconstitutional, 
yet  this  does  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  vary  the  re 
sult,  since  it  insists  on  deciding  this  question  for 
itself;  and,  in  opposition  to  reason  and  argument,  in 


80  MEMORIALS    OF 


opposition  to  practice  and  experience,  in  opposition 
to  the  judgment  of  others  having  an  equal  right  to 
judge,  it  says  only :  '  Such  is  my  opinion,  and  my 
opinion  shall  be  my  law,  and  I  will  support  it  by  my 
own  strong  hand.  I  denounce  the  law.  I  declare  it 
unconstitutional ;  that  is  enough  ;  it  shall  not  be  exe 
cuted.  Men  in  arms  are  ready  to  resist  its  execution. 
An  attempt  to  enforce  it  shall  cover  the  land  with 
blood.  Elsewhere,  it  may  be  binding ;  but  here,  it  is 
trampled  under  foot.'  This,  Sir,  is  practical  nullifi 
cation." 

Against  these  positions  Mr.  Webster  laid  down  a 
system  embodied  in  the  following  propositions  : 

I.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
not  a  league,  confederacy,  or  compact,  between  the 
people  of  the  several  States  in  their  sovereign  capaci 
ties  ;  but  a  Government  proper,  founded  on  the  adop 
tion  of  the  people,  and  creating  direct  relations  be 
tween  itself  and  individuals. 

II.  That  no  State  authority  has  power  to  dissolve 
those  relations  ;  that  nothing  can  dissolve  them  but 
revolution ;   and  that,  consequently,  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  secession  without  revolution. 

III.  That  there  is  a  supreme  law,  consisting  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  acts  of  Con 
gress  passed  in  pursuance  of  it,  and  treaties  ;    and 
that,  in  cases  not  capable  of  assuming  the  character 
of  a  suit  in  law  or  equity,  Congress   must  judge   of, 
and  finally  interpret,  this  supreme  law,  so  often  as  it 
has  occasion  to  pass  acts  of  legislation  ;  and  in  cases 
capable  of  assuming,  and  actually  assuming,  the  cha- 


DANIEL  WEBSTER,  81 


racter  of  a  suit,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  is  the  final  interpreter. 

IY.  That  an  attempt  by  a  State  to  abrogate,  an 
nul,  or  nullify  an  act  of  Congress,  or  to  arrest  its 
operation  within  her  limits,  on  the  ground  that,  in 
her  opinion,  such  law  is  unconstitutional,  is  a  direct 
usurpation  on  the  just  powers  of  the  General  Govern 
ment,  and  on  the  equal  rights  of  other  States  ;  a 
plain  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  proceeding 
essentially  revolutionary  in  its  character  and  ten 
dency. 

These  propositions  were  maintained  with  great 
ability,  without  any  attempt  at  sarcasm,  humor,  or 
anything  but  simple  argument.  The  opinion  gener 
ally  entertained  of  its  merit  and  conclusiveness  is 
well  indicated  in  a  letter  written  to  him  very  soon 
after  its  delivery,  by  Ex-President  Madison.  As 
Mr.  Madison  was  largely  concerned  in  drafting  the 
famous  resolutions  of  1798,  upon  which  the  whole 
State  Rights  theory  is  generally  based,  his  opinion 
upon  this  subject  was,  and  still  is,  entitled  to  great 
weight.  We  think,  therefore,  that  our  readers  will 
be  glad  to  read  his  letter  to  Mr.  Webster  on  that 
occasion,  which  has  hitherto  b%en  published  only  in 
Mr.  Everett's  biographical  sketch,  prefixed  to  the  re 
cent  edition  of  Mr.  Webster's  Speeches. 

"  MONTPELIER,  March  15,  1833. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  return  my  thanks,  &c.,  for 
the  copy  of  your  late  very  powerful  speech  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.     It  crushes  "  nullifica 
tion,"  and  must  hasten  an  abandonment  of  "  seces- 
4* 


82  MEMORIALS    OF 


sion."  But  this  dodges  the  blow  by  confounding  the 
claim  to  secede  at  will  with  the  right  of  seceding  from 
intolerable  oppression.  The  former  answers  itself, 
being  a  violation,  without  cause,  of  a  faith  solemnly 
pledged.  The  latter  is  another  name  only  for  revolu 
tion,  about  which  there  is  no  theoretic  controversy. 
Its  double  aspect,  nevertheless,  with  the  countenance 
received  from  certain  quarters,  is  giving  it  a  popular 
currency  here,  which  may  influence  the  approaching 
elections,  both  for  Congress  and  for  the  State  Legis 
lature.  It  has  gained  some  advantage,  also,  by  mix 
ing  itself  with  the  question  whether  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  formed  by  the  people,  or 
by  the  States,  now  under  a  theoretic  discussion  by 
animated  partisans, 

"  It  is  fortunate  when  disputed  theories  can  be 
decided  by  undisputed  facts,  and  here  the  undisputed 
fact  is,  that  the  Constitution  was  made  by  the  people, 
but  as  embodied  into  the  several  States  who  were 
parties  to  it — therefore  made  by  the  States  in  their 
highest  authoritative  capacity.  They  might,  by  the 
same  authority,  and  by  the  same  process,  have  con 
verted  the  confederacy  into  a  mere  league  or  treaty, 
or  continued  it  with  enlarged  or  abridged  power  ;  or 
have  embodied  the  people  of  their  respective  States 
into  one  people,  nation,  or  sovereignty ;  or,  as  they 
did,  by  a  mixed  form,  make  them  one  people,  nation, 
or  sovereignty,  for  certain  purposes,  and  not  so  for 
others. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  being 
established  by  a  competent  authority — by  that  of  the 
sovereign  people  of  the  several  States  who  were  par- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  83 

ties  to  it — it  remains  only  to  inquire  what  the  Con 
stitution  is  ;  and  here  it  speaks  for  itself.  It  organ 
izes  a  government  into  the  usual  legislative,  execu 
tive,  and  judiciary  departments  ;  invests  it  with  spe 
cified  powers,  leaving  others  to  the  parties  to  the 
Constitution.  It  makes  the  government,  like  other 
governments,  to  operate  directly  on  the  people ; 
places  at  its  command  the  needful  physical  means  of 
executing  its  powers  ;  and,  finally,  proclaims  its  supre 
macy,  and  that  of  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  of  it, 
over  the  constitutions  and  laws  of  the  States,  the 
powers  of  the  government  being  exercised,  as  in  other 
elective  and  responsible  governments,  under  the  con 
trol  of  its  constituents,  the  people  and  the  Legisla 
tures  of  the  States,  and  subject  to  the  revolutionary 
rights  of  the  people  in  extreme  cases. 

"  Such  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
dejure  and  de  facto,  and  the  name,  whatever  it  be, 
that  may  be  given  to  it,  can  make  it  nothing  more  or 
less  than  what  it  is. 

"  Pardon  this  hasty  effusion,  which,  whether  pre 
cisely  according  or  not  with  your  ideas,  presents,  I  am 
aware,  none  that  will  be  new  to  you. 

"  With  great  esteem  and  cordial  salutations, 

"JAMES  MADISON. 

"  Mr.  WEBSTER." 

The  bill,  as  is  well  known,  passed — with  the  vote 
of  John  Tyler  alone,  in  the  negative  ;  its  other  op 
ponents  having,  from  various  reasons,   left   the  Se 
nate  Chamber  before  the  vote  was  taken.     It  is  of 
course  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  Mr,  Clay  had 


84  MEMORIALS    OF 


taken  no  part  in  this  great  debate,  having  been 
anxiously  and  laboriously  engaged  in  elaborating  and 
preparing  the  way  for  the  Compromise,  by  which  the 
dispute  was  at  last  adjusted.  Mr.  Webster's  course 
in  this  crisis,  commanded  the  warm  approbation  of 
General  Jackson,  who  felt  the  extent  of  the  service 
thus  rendered  to  his  administration.  He  took  an 
early  opportunity,  in  person,  to  express  his  cordial 
gratitude  for  his  support,  and  his  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Livingston,  repeatedly  made  similar  acknowledg 
ments.  It  has  been  alleged  that,  mainly  at  Mr.  Liv 
ingston's  suggestion,  General  Jackson  was  strongly 
disposed  to  seek  an  alliance  with  Mr.  Webster,  founded 
upon  the  community  of  their  principles  upon  this 
subject,  which  should  extend  to  the  whole  of  General 
Jackson's  administration.  It  is  alleged,  on  good 
authority,  that  Mr.  Livingston,  with  the  President's 
consent,  consulted  Mr.  Webster  upon  the  subject,  and 
that  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  was  at  the  same  time  placed 
at  his  disposal.  One  fact,  bearing  upon  this  subject, 
is  given  by  Mr.  March,  as  upon  authority.  He  states 
that  a  distinguished  Senator,  a  political  and  personal 
friend  of  General  Jackson,  brought  to  Mr.  Webster 
a  list  of  intended  nominees  for  office  in  the  Eastern 
States,  and  asked  him  to  erase  therefrom  the  names 
of  any  who  might  be  personally  objectionable  to  him. 
This  he  declined  to  do,  from  an  unwillingness  to  place 
himself  under  any  obligation  to  the  Administration, 
which  might  at  all  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  his 
action.  No  one  can  avoid  speculating  as  to  the  dif 
ferent  political  fortunes  which  might  have  overtaken 
the  country,  had  the  stern  energy  of  Gen.  Jackson 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  85 


and   the   profound   wisdom   of   Mr.   Webster,   been 
united  in  directing  its  destiny. 

THE  BANK   CONTROVERSY. 

The  next  great  topic  which  enlisted  public  atten 
tion  was  well  calculated, — and  its  introduction,  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Democratic  party,  it  has  been  charged, 
was  designed — to  render  any  such  co-operation  between 
these  two  commanding  spirits  out  of  the  question. 
Mr.  Webster,  at  the  close  of  the  session,  made  a  short 
journey  to  the  Middle  and  Western  States.  He  was 
received  everywhere  with  the  most  distinguished 
attention,  being  greeted  by  public  meetings  in  all  the 
principal  cities,  and  making  at  various  points  addresses 
upon  topics  of  public  interest.  Gen.  Jackson  also  made 
a  Northern  tour  during  the  same  recess  of  Congress  ; 
and  it  was  during  that  period  that  the  removal  of  the 
public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  determined  on.  It  was  carried  into  effect  in  Sep 
tember,  1833,  and  its  immediate  effect  upon  the  busi 
ness  of  the  country  was  most  disastrous.  Congress 
met  two  months  after ;  and  one  of  the  earliest  move 
ments  in  the  Senate  was  the  offering  of  a  resolution 
by  Mr.  Clay,  calling  on  the  President  for  a  copy  of  a 
paper  said  to  have  been  read  by  him  at  a  Cabinet 
meeting  in  regard  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits  on 
the  18th  of  September.  He  supported  the  resolution 
in  an  animated  speech,  and  it  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
23  to  18, — the  State-Rights  men,  on  this  occasion, 
abandoning  General  Jackson,  and  leaving  the  Ad 
ministration  in  a  minority.  The  President,  in  reply 


86  MEMORIALS    OF 


to  the  resolution,  declared  his  independence  of  the 
Senate,  as  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  Government ; 
and  he  "  had  yet  to  learn  under  what  constituted 
authority  that  branch  of  the  Legislature  had  a  right 
to  require  of  him  an  account  of  any  communication, 
either  verbally  or  in  writing,  made  to  the  heads  of 
Departments  in  Cabinet  Council."  He  therefore 
declined  to  comply  with  the  request  contained  in  the 
resolution.  In  the  paper  thus  called  for  he  had  de 
clared  that  he  had  decided  upon  the  measure  in 
question,  and  should  carry  it  into  effect  upon  his  own 
responsibility,  and  without  requiring  any  member  of 
his  Cabinet  to  make  any  sacrifice  of  opinion  or  of 
principle.  For  this  he  was  severely  denounced  by 
the  Opposition.  Mr.  Clay  offered  resolutions  of  sub 
stantial  censure,  and  supported  them  in  one  of  the 
ablest  speeches  he  ever  made.  After  a  long  and 
vehement  debate,  the  resolutions,  considerably  modi 
fied  by  its  author,  passed  the  Senate, — one  of  them 
by  a  vote  of  26  to  20,  and  the  other  28  to  18.  In 
the  discussion  upon  these  resolutions  Mr.  Webster 
took  no  part.  But  in  reply  to  them,  General  Jackson 
sent  to  the  Senate  on  the  17th  of  April,  1834,  his 
memorable  Protest,  in  which  he  argued  with  great 
ability,  1st,  that  the  Executive, under  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  is  the  sole  custodian  of  the  public  funds ; 
2dly,that  even  on  the  supposition  that  he  had  assumed 
an  illegal  power,  he  was  amenable  to  the  action  of 
either  House,  only  through  the  constitutional  process 
of  impeachment ;  3dly,  that  the  President  alone  is 
responsible  to  the  People  alone  for  the  conduct  of  all 
the  subordinate  Executive  Officers,  while  they  in  turn 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  87 


are  responsible  only  to  him  ;  and  4th,  that  he  is  the 
direct^djfc^ate  representative  of  the  people.  This, 
formal  Kiment,  and  the  claim  it  preferred  to 
the  mWBBpRrordinary  powers,  aroused  profound  sen 
sation,  not  only  in  the  Senate,  but  throughout  the 
country. 

On  the  7th  of  May,  Mr.  Webster  delivered  a 
speech  upon  the  subject,  in  which  he  subjected  every 
portion  of  that  remarkable  paper  to  the  severest 
examination.  At  the  opening  and  the  close  of  his 
remarks  he  took  occasion  to  disavow,  in  the  most 
earnest  manner,  everything  like  personal  or  partisan 
feeling  against  the  President,  a  man  who,  he  said, 
"  has  rendered  most  distinguished  services  to  his 
country,  and  whose  honesty  of  motive  and  integrity 
of  purpose  are  still  maintained  by  those  who  admit 
that  his  administration  has  fallen  into  lamentable 
errors."  But  he  regarded  the  doctrines  of  the  Pro 
test  as  at  war  with  all  sound  principles  of  constitu 
tional  liberty,  and  as  indicating  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  the  Executive  towards  a  despotic  usurpation 
of  powers  belonging  to  other  departments,  which 
called  for  the  most  prompt  and  determined  resistance. 
Even  if  no  harm  should  result  from  the  claim,  still  it 
ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  pass  unchallenged.  "  It 
was  against  the  recital  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  ra 
ther  than  against  any  suffering  under  its  enactment, 
that  our  fathers  took  up  arms.  They  went  to  war 
against  a  preamble.  They  fought  seven  years  against 
a  declaration."  Upon  this  question  of  principle, 
Awhile  suffering  was  yet  afar  off,  they  raised  their 
flag  against  a  power  to  which,  for  purposes  of  foreign 


S8  MEMORIALS    OP 


conquest  and  subjugation,  Rome,  in  the  height  of  her 
glory,  is  not  to  be  compared ; — a  po^Jfe^Ii  has 
dotted  the  surface  of  the  whole  globS  E~  pos 
sessions  and  military  posts,  whose  mWJ|^^rum- 
beat,  following  the  sun,  and  keeping  company  with 
the  hours,  circles  the  earth  with  one  continuous  and 
unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  airs  of  England." — 
Mr.  Webster  asserted  and  vindicated,  in  the  clearest 
manner,  not  only  the  right,  but  the  duty,  of  the  Sen 
ate,  to  defend  the  public  liberty  against  encroach 
ment,  and  to  express  its  opinions  whenever  it  believed 
such  encroachment  to  have  taken  place.  The  Senate 
had  acted  in  its  legislative,  and  not  in  its  judicial 
capacity,  and  in  this  action  it  had  only  defended  its 
own  just  authority  and  that  of  the  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  Legislature.  He  examined  closely,  and  de 
nounced  with  majestic  emphasis,  the  extraordinary 
doctrines  put  forward  by  the  President  concerning 
the  theory  of  his  relations  to  the  other  branches  of 
the  Government,  and  to  the  People, — declaring  that 
if  these  doctrines  were  true,  it  was  "  idle  to  talk  any 
longer  about  any  such  thing  as  a  government  of  laws. 
We  have  no  government  of  laws — we  have  no  legal 
responsibility.  We  have  an  Executive,  consisting  of 
one  person,  wielding  all  official  power,  and  responsi 
ble  only  as  Cromwell  was  responsible  when  he  broke 
up  Parliament,  or  Bonaparte  when  he  dissolved  the 
Assembly  of  France." 

The  speech  elicited  the  warmest  commendations 
from  distinguished  men  in  every  section  of  the  coun 
try.  Chancellor  Kent  exhausted  the  language  of 
eulogy  in  extolling  its  merits.  Governor  Tazewell, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  89 


of  Virginia,  who  bad  seldom  concurred  with  Mr. 
Webster  in  his  views  upon  public  topics,  thanked  him 
cordially,  and  declared  that  he  agreed  with  him 
throughout.'  During  the  same  session  Mr.  Webster 
made  frequent  speeches  upon  various  topics  of  interest, 
as  they  arose  in  the  course  of  business,  and  wrote 
also  a  very  able  report  on  the  Finances,  on  behalf  of 
the  Committee,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  In  1835 
he  spoke  at  length  upon  the  French  Spoliation  bill ; — 
the  power  of  removal  from  and  appointments  to  office, 
insisting  that  the  President  could  not  rightfully 
remove  from  office  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate; 
and  upon  resolutions  proposed  by  Mr.  Benton,  pro 
viding  for  the  national  defence,  and  especially  upon 
the  action  the  President  had  taken  to  secure  their 
favorable  consideration.  He  also  drew  up  and  pre 
sented  a  Protest  against  the  action  of  the  Senate,  in 
adopting  a  motion  to  expunge  from  its  records  the 
resolutions  by  which,  in  1834,  it  had  expressed  its 
disapprobation  of  the  President's  course  in  removing 
the  deposits. 

In  November,  1836,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  elected 
President,  to  succeed  G-eneral  Jackson.  During  that 
winter,  although  the  currency  question  and  others, 
which  had  grown  out  of  it,  continued  to  occupy  the  at 
tention  of  Congress  and  the  country,  and  although  Mr. 
Webster  spoke  frequently  upon  them  as  they  came 
up  for  discussion,  no  great  topic  called  for  special 
effort.  In  February  he  accepted  an  invitation,  from 
a  very  large  number  of  merchants,  professional  men 
and  others  in  the  City  of  New-York,  to  attend  a  large 
public  meeting.  His  speech,  delivered  on  this  occa- 


90  MEMORIALS    OF 


sion  in  Niblo's  Saloon,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1837, 
embraced  a  comprehensive  view  of  all  the  measures 
by  which  General  Jackson's  administration  had  been 
distinguished.  He  spoke  at  length  of  the  Tariff,  In 
ternal  Improvements,  &c.,  and  called  the  attention  of 
the  country  to  the  movements  which  were  on  foot  for 
the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States.  He 
declared  his  opposition  to  that  measure,  mainly  on 
account  of  his  "  entire  unwillingness  to  do  anything 
that  should  extend  the  Slavery  of  the  African  race, 
on  this  Continent,  or  add  other  Slave-holding  States 
to  this  Union.  But  the  main  part  of  his  speech  related 
to  the  action  of  the  Administration  in  regard  to  the 
financial'  condition  of  the  country.  After  the  adjourn 
ment  of  Congress,  Mr.  Webster  made  a  rapid  tour 
through  the  Western  States,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
was  greeted  by  the  most  cordial  welcome  on  the  part  of 
the  people,  and  addressed  large  meetings  at  Wheel 
ing,  Va.,  Madison,  Ind.,  and  other  places. 

President  Van  Buren  came  into  office  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1837.  One  of  his  first  acts  AYas  to  call 
an  extra  session  of  Congress,  which  met  in  September, 
to  provide  for  the  serious  emergencies  created  by  the 
almost  simultaneous  suspension  of  specie  payments 
by  the  banks,  throughout  the  country,  in  the  month 
of  May.  At  the  meeting  of  Congress,  the  Independ 
ent  Treasury  System  was  brought  forward  by  the 
Administration,  which  proposed  to  dispense  altoge 
ther  with  the  aid  of  banks,  to  provide  a  distinct 
set  of  officers  to  take  charge  of  the  public  money, 
and  to  exact  specie  in  payment  of  all  public  dues. 
Mr.  Webster  opposed  the  whole  system,  as  imprac- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  91 

ticablc  and  certain  to  prove  in  the  highest  degree 
injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  country.  In  a  long 
and  able  speech  at  that  session,  he  set  forth  his  view 
of  the  duties  of  the  General  Government  in  regard 
to  the  Currency.  The  measure  did  not  pass  at  the 
extra  session. 

At  the  next  regular  session,  on  the  27th  of  De 
cember,  Mr.  Calhoun  offered  a  resolution  against  the 
interference  of  Congress  with  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  declaring  that  it  would  be  a  "  direct 
and  dangerous  attack  on  the  institutions  of  all  the 
slaveholding  States."  To  this  Mr.  Clay,  on  the  10th 
of  January,  1838,  offered  a  substitute,  declaring  that 
such  interference  would  "  be  a  violation  of  the  faith 
implied  in  the  cessions  by  the  States  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  a  just  cause  of  alarm  to  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  states,  and  have  a  direct  and  inevitable 
tendency  to  disturb  and  endanger  the  Union."  Mr. 
Webster  opposed  both  upon  the  ground  that  he  could 
see  nothing  in  the  act  of  cession,  nothing  in  the  Con 
stitution,  and  nothing  in  the  history  of  this  or  any 
other  transaction,  implying  any  limitation  upon  the 
power  of  Congress  to  exercise  exclusive  jurisdiction 
over  the  ceded  territory  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

On  the  16th  of  January,  a  bill  was  introduced 
into  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Wright,  to  establish  the  In 
dependent  Treasury  system ;  which  came  up  for  its 
second  reading  on  the  30th.  Mr.  Wright,  in  advo 
cating  the  passage  of  the  bill,  had  taken  ground 
against  the  allegation  that  Congress  had  anything  to 
do  with  providing  a  currency  for  the  people.  "  Let 
the  Government,"  said  he,  "  attend  to  its  own  business, 


92  MEMORIALS    OF 


and  let  the  people  attend  to  theirs.  Let  the  Govern 
ment  take  care  that  it  secures  a  sound  currency  for 
its  own  use,  and  let  it  leave  all  the  rest  to  the  States 
and  to  the  people."  These  "  ominous  sentences  "  were 
the  key-note  of  the  speech  which  Mr.  Webster  made 
in  opposition  to  the  bill  on  the  next  day.  He  de 
nounced  the  sentiment  which  they  expressed  as  utterly 
unbecoming  a  Republican  Government,  and  opposed 
the  bill  as  in  the  highest  degree  injurious  to  the  pub 
lic  interest.  On  the  15th  of  February,  Mr.  Calhoun, 
who  had,  at  the  extra  session,  intimated  his  purpose 
to  support  the  Sub-Treasury  Bill,  and  had  issued  a 
letter  to  his  constituents  upon  the  subject  during  the 
recess,  replied  to  Mr.  Webster.  This  elicited  from 
Mr.  Webster,  on  the  12th  of  March,  another  speech 
on  the  same  subject,  much  more  elaborate  and  com 
plete  than  the  first.  He  discussed  at  length  the  re 
lations  of  capital  and  labor  in  this  country,  the  uses 
of  the  credit  system,  the  progress  of  the  country  in 
agriculture,  commerce  and  manufactures,  and  the  ex 
tent  to  which  this  progress  was  due  to  the  system  of 
credit,  and  the  absolute  necessity  to  both  the  Govern 
ment  and  the  people  of  a  sound  Bank  paper  currency. 
He  vindicated,  by  constitutional  exposition  and  by  re 
currence  to  history,  the  right  of  the  Government  to 
use  banks  in  the  custody  and  transmission  of  its 
Funds,  and  pointed  out  the  disastrous  consequences 
which  could  not  but  result  from  the  introduction  of 
so  different  a  system  as  that  which  the  bill  in  ques 
tion  proposed  to  establish.  He  closed  by  referring 
to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  by  a  very  sharp 
examination  of  the  course  of  that  gentleman  during 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  93 


his  public  career.  On  this  and  other  questions  of 
public  interest,  Mr.  Calhoun  replied  on  the  22d  of 
March,  and  spoke  disparagingly  of  Mr.  Webster's 
course  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain.  Mr. 
Webster  rejoined  at  once,  with  force  and  effect. 

In  the  Spring  of  1839,  Mr.  Webster  visited 
Europe,  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life, — mak 
ing  a  hasty  tour  through  England,  Scotland  and 
France.  He  was  received  with  marked  attention  and 
with  every  mark  of  the  most  distinguished  consider 
ation.  He  attended  several  public  festivals,  and 
among  them  the  first  Triennial  celebration  of  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society  at  Oxford,  on  the  18th 
of  July.  He  gave  .special  attention  during  his  tour 
to  the  condition  of  Agriculture,  to  the  subject  of 
Currency,  and  to  the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes  ; 
and  the  results  of  his  study  of  these  subjects  are  trace 
able  in  many  of  his  subsequent  speeches. 

Previous  to  his  departure,  Mr.  Webster  had  pre 
pared  a  letter  to  the  Whig  National  Convention 
which  assembled  during  his  absence,  withdrawing  his 
name  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  General 
Harrison  was  nominated,  and  after  a  few  weeks  the 
whole  country  became  intensely  agitated  with  the 
contest  between  him  and  Mr.  Van  Buren.  Mr.  Web 
ster  returned  before  the  election  and  took  an  active 
part  in  the  contest.  The  derangement  in  the  cur 
rency,  the  depression  of  labor  which  had  resulted, 
the  apprehensions  entertained  of  the  effect  of  the 
Sub-Treasury  System  upon  the  industry  of  the  coun 
try,  and  other  circumstances,  laid  the  basis  for  a  more 
exciting  political  canvass  than  the  country  has  ever 


94  MEMORIALS    OF 


witnessed  before  or  since.  At  Saratoga,  on  the  19th 
of  August,  1840,  Mr.  Webster  addressed  an  immense 
meeting  upon  these  subjects  and  other  issues  involved 
in  the  contest.  On  the  10th  of  September,  he  pre 
sided  over  a  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled  at 
Bunker  Hill,  and  read  a  declaration  of  "  Whig  Princi 
ples  and  Purposes,"  which  he  had  drawn  up  for  the 
occasion.  On  the  28th  of  September,  he  made  a 
speech  from  the  steps  of  the  Exchange  in  Wall-street, 
New-York,  principally  upon  the  financial  issues  in 
volved.  And  on  the  5th  of  October,  he  made  a  very 
eloquent  address  upon  the  general  subject  at  Rich 
mond,  Virginia.  All  these  speeches  were  marked 
by  Mr.  Webster's  characteristics,  strong  reasoning, 
the  utmost  felicity  of  language,  and  the  most  impos 
ing  grandeur  of  manner  and  of  style.  With  the  result 
the  country  is  familiar.  General  Harrison  was  elect 
ed  President  by  an  overwhelming  popular  majority, 
and  came  into  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841. 

MR.  WEBSTER  AS  SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

The  inauguration  of  General  Harrison,  in  1841, 
was  the  inauguration  of  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  Mr. 
Webster.  Mr.  Clay,  his  great  competitor  in  the  po 
litical  race,  had  distanced  him  in  diplomatic  honors. 
The  treaty  of  Ghent  had  added  the  fame  of  the  nego 
tiator  to  that  of  the  promising  orator  and  statesman, 
which  the  colossal  Kentucldan  had  been  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  in  the  first  stages  of  his  career. 
Mr.  Webster  had  graduated  in  every  other  depart 
ment  of  statesmanship  ;  had  appropriated  the  highest 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  95 


rewards  of  resplendent  success  at  the  bar  and  in  the 
forum  ;  had  won  the  just  renown  of  patriotism,  proved 
equal  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union  at  an  immi 
nent  crisis;  and,  indeed,  thoroughly  matured  his 
reputation  before  he  proceeded  to  still  higher  exhibi 
tions  of  his  extraordinary  powers.  The  remaining 
chapters  of  his  biography  form  a  perfect  record  of  the 
most  important  events  in  the  history  of  the  national 
diplomacy  down  to  the  period  of  the  statesman's 
death.  In  the  formation  of  his  Cabinet,  General 
Harrison  was  prompted  not  only  by  his  personal  pre 
dilections,  but  by  the  obvious  sense  of  a  large  section 
of  the  Whig  party,  to  make  Mr.  Webster  the  nucleus. 
The  Treasury  Department  was  accordingly  tendered 
to  that  gentleman,  but  he  declined  it,  intimating  at 
the  same  time  his  readiness  to  accept  the  Depart 
ment  of  State.  Notwithstanding  the  enormous  re 
sponsibility  devolving  upon  the  former  office,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  universal  expectation  that  relief  for 
the  monetary  distresses  of  the  country  was  to  emanate 
from  that  quarter,  it  was  no  consideration  of  indo 
lence  that  induced  Mr.  Webster  to  prefer  the  latter. 
Our  foreign  relations  were  as  sadly  deranged  as 
the  finances.  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration,  so 
far  from  contributing  to  their  adjustment,  had,  by 
pursuing  the  devious  and  hyper-cautious  policy,  which 
uniformly  marked  it,  wrapped  them  in  almost  hope 
less  confusion.  To  a  majority  of  the  questions  re 
quiring  immediate  attention  Great  "Britain  was  a 
party.  Some  of  these  difficulties  were  of  a  chronic 
nature  ;  of  others  the  symptoms  were  acute.  The 
Northeastern  Boundary  had  been  the  subject  of  con- 


96  MEMORIALS    OF 


troversy  for  nearly  half  a  century.  The  treaty  of 
1783  had  left  it  involved  in  obscurity.  A  convention 
entered  into  in  1793  had  determined  a  small  portion 
of  the  line,  viz. :  that  reaching  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  head-waters  of  the  St.  Croix,  but  the  remainder 
was  as  unknown  as  the  wilderness  through  which  it 
passed.  Another  Convention,  ten  years  later,  prose 
cuted  the  subject  further,  by  endeavoring  to  fix  the 
whole  boundary  as  far  as  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  but 
the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  rendering  our  Govern 
ment  doubtful  about  the  extent  of  its  rights  at  the 
Westward,  the  negotiation  was  broken  off,  until  some 
explorations  might  be  made.  The  matter  stood  thus 
until  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  when  it  was  agreed  to  ap 
point  a  joint  Commissioner  to  survey  the  line,  and, 
in  case  of  any  disagreement,  to  select  an  arbitrator, 
whose  decision  should  be  final.  The  survey  was 
made,  and  so  was  the  report.  There  was  disagree 
ment,  and  while  Mr.  Clay  was  Secretary  of  State,  in 
1827.  the  question  was  submitted  to  the  arbitrament 
of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Netherlands.  That 
potentate  reported  in  1831  ;  and  his  report  was  as 
unsatisfactory  to  the  Cabinet  of  Washington  as  to 
that  of  St.  James.  The  parties  agreed  to  disagree  ; 
and  we  need  not  be  surprised  that,  surrounded  as  it 
was  with  financial  embarrassments  and  internal  diffi 
culties,  which  its  own  headlong  policy  had  created, 
the  Administration  of  General  Jackson  found  no 
time  to  proceed  with  the  calendar  of  unfinished  busi 
ness.  A  long  and  desultory  correspondence  between 
Mr.  Forsyth,  Secretary  of  State  under  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren,  and  Mr.  Fox,  the  British  Envoy,  only  augmented 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  97 


the  trouble.  Lord  Palmerston,  then  Foreign  Secre 
tary,  was  characteristically  vexatious  and  difficult. 
Proposition  after  proposition  emanated  alternately 
from  either  Government,  always  involving  the  notion 
of  tedious  surveys,  and  no  less  tedious  arbitrations ; 
but  the  plan  of  neither  suited  the  other,  and  they 
occupied  the  relations  of  two  divergent  orbs,  to  use 
Mr.  Webster's  own  simile,  which  had  to  travel  the 
whole  circle  before  they  could  again  meet.  Such  was 
the  state  of  the  whole  subject  when  it  descended  to 
the  Administration  of  General  Harrison,  bitterly  ag 
gravated,  however,  by  the  impatience  and  jealousy 
which  had  sprung  up  among  the  residents  upon  the 
debateable  territory.  Hostilities  were  daily  expect 
ed  ;  and  the  legislature  of  Maine  had  even  gone  so 
far  as  to  provide  for  the  arming  and  equipment  of  a 
large  military  force,  disguised  by  the  name  of  a  "  civil 
posse,"  to  defend  the  supposed  American  frontier. 
No  other  than  the  most  energetic  action  on  the  part 
of  the  Federal  Government  could  prevent  hostilities. 
The  Oregon  frontier  was  also  the  subject  of  much 
anxiety,  as  the  territory  was  rapidly  filling  with  set 
tlers.  Much  ill  feeling  prevailed  at  the  frequent 
visits  to  which  American  vessels,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  were  subjected  by  British  cruisers,  under 
pretence  of  ascertaining  their  innocence  of  the  Slave- 
trade.  The  case  of  Alexander  McLeod,  arising  out 
of  the  seizure  of  the  Caroline,  in  1837,  had,  like 
every  thing  else  of  real  importance,  remained  un- 
handled  by  Mr.  Van  Buren's  Cabinet.  In  fact,  a 
point  in  our  external  relations  had  been  reached,  when 
immediate  negotiation  was  the  alternative  of  war. 
5 


98  MEMORIALS    OF 


Our  Minister  to  London  entertained  so  lively  a  sense 
of  the  danger  as  to  notify  the  Commander  of  our  fleet 
in  the  Mediterranean  of  the  probable  approach  of 
hostilities. 

Mr.  Webster  found  himself  face  to  face  with  these 
pressing  questions  when  he  entered  upon  his  duties. 
He  grappled  with  them  at  once.  The  case  of  Alex 
ander  McLeod  was  laid  before  him.  in  an  urgent  letter 
from  Mr.  Fox.  on  the  12th  of  March,  1841.  McLeod 
was  about  to  stand  a  trial  for  his  life  before  the  State 
''Courts  of  New-York,  upon  a  charge  of  murder.  The 
British  Government  avowed  the  seizure  of  the  Caro 
line  as  an  official  act,  thereby  relieving  any  indivi 
dual  serving  under  its  flag  on  that  occasion  of  any 
criminal  charge,  and  demanded  the  release  of  McLeod. 
Had  he  been  executed,  there  is  no  doubt  that  war 
would  have  ensued.  Mr.  Webster,  acknowledging  the 
justice  of  the  demand,  but  unable  to  interfere  with 
the  legal  tribunals  of  an  individual  State,  notified 
Mr.  Fox  of  his  desire  to  assist  in  the  liberation  of 
the  prisoner,  and  Mr.  Crittenden,  then,  as  now,  Attor 
ney-General,  was  dispatched  to  New-York  to  assist 
in  the  defence.  A  verdict  of  acquittal  solved  the 
whole  difficulty. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1841,  Mr.  Webster  re 
opened  the  question  of  the  Northeastern  Boundary, 
by  inviting  the  British  Government  to  negotiate  upon 
the  new  basis  of  a  conventional  line.  The  proposition 
was  received  at  London  at  the  moment  when  the 
Melbourne  Ministry  was  about  to  relinquish  office ; 
and  it  met  with  no  response  until  the  following  De 
cember,  when  Lord  Aberdeen,  Foreign  Secretary  in 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  99 


the   Cabinet   of  Sir   Robert    Peel,    acquainted    Mr. 
Everett,  our  minister  at  St.  James,  with  the  intention 
of  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  send  a  special  envoy 
to  the  United  States,  in  order  to  adjust  all  unsettled 
questions.     Lord  Ashburton,  the  agent  selected,  was 
recommended    not   only   by   his    acquaintance   with 
American  character  and  affairs,  but  by  his  personal 
friendship  for  Mr.  Webster,  formed  during  the  visit 
of  the  latter  to  England  in  1839.     Lord  Ashburton 
arrived  in  Washington  in  April,  1842.     Mr.  Webster 
had  already  applied  to  the  governments  of  Maine 
and    Massachusetts   to   appoint  commissioners   who 
should  participate  in  and  sanction  the  negotiation  ; 
and  the  question,  with  all  its  collateral  issues,  was  at 
once  entered  upon.     The   State  papers  which  ema 
nated  from  Mr.  Webster  in  the  course  of  this  trans 
action,  are  among  the  most  masterly  productions  of 
American  intellect.     They  embrace    the  whole   ra 
tionale  of  the  subjects  they  successively  treat,  stated 
in  terms  so  lucid,  and  with  judgment  so  correct,  as  to 
form  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  International  law. 
The  treaty  itself,  undoubtedly  accomplished  all  that 
could  be  accomplished  at  the  time.     Lord  Ashburton 
was  not  prepared  to  enter  upon  the  subject  of  the 
Oregon  boundary  ;   and  that  was  the  only  question 
which  the  convention  left  unsettled.     The  boundary 
upon  the  Northeast  was  fixed   on  the  basis  of  a  con 
ventional  line,  approved    by  the  Commissioners  of 
Maine  and   Massachusetts,  the  parties  more  imme 
diately  interested.     The  Right  of  Search  was   dis 
franchised  ;  and,  as  a  substitute,  both  nations  engaged 
to  sustain  sufficient  squadrons  on  the  African  coast 


100  MEMORIALS    OF 


to  repress  the  slave  trade.  An  agreement  for  the  re 
ciprocal  surrender  of  fugitives  from  justice  was 
framed ;  and  the  minor  questions,  relating  to  the 
capture  of  the  Caroline  and  the  case  of  the  Creole^ 
were  the  subject  of  highly  satisfactory  correspondence, 
which  has  effectually  prevented,  and  will  always,  it 
was  imagined,  discourage  a  recurrence  of  similar 
transactions.  The  labors  of  the  negotiators  were  ter 
minated  on  the  9th  of  August,  1842,  and  two  days 
after  the  treaty  was  laid  before  the  Senate.  The 
Committee  upon  Foreign  Relations,  of  which  Hon. 
William  C.  Rives  was  chairman,  reported  it  on  the 
15th,  without  amendment,  and  on  the  20th,  the  Se 
nate  assented  to  the  treaty,  unamended,  by  a  vote  of 
Yeas  39,  Nays  9.  Among  the  affirmative  votes  we 
find  the  names  of  Messrs.  J.  C.  Calhoun,  Rufus 
Choate.  John  M.  Clayton,  John  J.  Crittenden,  George 
Evans,  William  R.  King,  W.  P.  Man  gum,  William 
C.  Preston,  W.  C.  Rives,  N.  P.  Tallmadge,  Silas 
Wright,  Levi  Woodbury.  In  the  negative,  the  only 
notable  names  were  those  of  Messrs.  Benton  and 
Buchanan. 

The  treaty  of  Washington,  the  ratifications  of 
which  were  presently  afterwards  exchanged  in  Lon 
don,  classes  with  the  most  remarkable  State  papers  of 
the  time.  The  quintuple  treaty  between  the  five 
great  powers  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade, 
which  was  signed  in  Dec.  1841,  fell  to  the  ground,  in 
the  presence  of  the  better  suggestions  contained  in 
the  American  document.  The  clause  relative  to  the 
surrender  of  fugitives,  has  been  reproduced  in  several 
conventions  framed  for  that  specific  purpose,  between 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  101 


the  various  states  of  Europe.  Disputes  of  tedious 
duration  were  laid  to  rest  by  it ;  others  exciting  an 
extravagant  popular  feeling,  and  promising  to  end  in 
an  ill-timed  resort  to  arms,  were  for  ever  quieted.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  several  points,  which  Mr.  Web 
ster  deemed  satisfactorily  adjusted  by  the  corres 
pondence  between  himself  and  Lord  Ashburton,  had 
not  been  more  definitely  secured  by  articles  in  the 
treaty.  The  seizure  of  the  Caroline^  and  the  treat 
ment  of  the  crew  of  the  Creole,  both  involved  ques 
tions  of  international  right,  in  which  the  honor  of  our 
flag  was  deeply  interested.  Lord  Ashburton,  it  is 
true,  conceded  the  irregularity  of  those  acts ;  and  so 
long  as  the  correspondence  is  remembered,  it  may 
prevent  any  repetition.  "  But  there  would  have  been 
a  stronger  assurance,  if  the  treaty  itself  had  embodied 
the  understanding.  It  was  of  course  the  policy  of 
Lord  Palmerston  and  the  English  opposition,  to  de 
nounce  the  treaty,  as  sacrificing  the  interests  of  Great 
Britain.  The  subject  led  to  an  animated  debate  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  Ministry  sustained 
a  severe  shock  in  the  encounter.  But  the  Whigs 
failed  to  prevent  its  ratification.  At  home  and 
abroad,  Mr.  Wrebster  was  at  once  recognized  as  one 
of  the  foremost  diplomatists^of  the  day.  His  reputa 
tion  became  a  European  one ;  and  if  the  expression 
of  satisfaction  throughout  this  country  was  less  viva 
cious  than  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  fact  must 
be  accounted  for  by  the  unpopularity  of  the  adminis 
tration  with  which  he  was  connected ;  Gen.  Harrison 
having  died,  and  been  succeeded  by  John  Tyler  with 
in  a  month  after  his  inauguration. 


102  MEMORIALS    OF 


While  the  negotiations  with  Lord  Ashburton 
were  pending,  other  external  questions  divided  the 
attention  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Our  relations 
with  Mexico  were  precarious.  While  on  the  one 
hand  our  Government  was  pressing  the  liberation  of 
several  American  citizens,  who  had  attended  the  un 
fortunate  Texan  expedition  against  Santa  Fe,  the 
Government  of  Mexico  appealed  to  that  of  Washing 
ton,  to  repress  the  southern  emigration  to  Texas, 
which  swelled  the  armies  of  that  Republic  to  an  ex 
tent,  which  threatened  not  only  to  make  the  conquest 
impossible  for  the  largest  force  Mexico  could  raise, 
but  to  expose  that  confederation  to  invasion  and  dis 
solution.  The  correspondence  of  Mr.  Webster  with 
Gen.  Waddy  Thompson,  then  Envoy  at  the  city  of 
Mexico,  and 'with  Sig.  De  Bocanegra,  the  Mexican 
Foreign  Secretary,  embraces  a  clear  and  eloquent 
statement  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  two  nations 
under  such  circumstances.  The  Mexican  Minister 
was  less  respectful  in  the  tone  of  his  communications 
than  was  fitting  the  dignity  of  our  Government,  and 
Mr.  Webster  closed  the  correspondence  with  a  re 
iterated  averment  of  our  entire  neutrality,  and  an 
expression  of  unwillingness  to  have  any  further  inter 
course  upon  the  subject.  At  the  same  time,  the  case 
of  the  Spanish  brig  Amistad  remained  unsettled  on 
the  files  of  the  Department,  where  it  had  been  left  by 
the  previous  administration.  The  vessel  had  been 
found  by  one  of  our  home  squadron,  lying  close  to 
the  American  coast,  and  in  the  possession  of  a  band 
of  negroes,  who  had  murdered  the  officers,  and  were 
too  unskilful  to  manage  the  ship.  It  was  brought 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  103 

into  port  arid  a  claim  for  salvage  stated  against  it. 
While  the  matter  was  in  this  posture,  the  Chevalier 
d'Argaiz,  the  Spanish  Minister,  addressed  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  protesting  against  the  reference  of  the 
case  to  the  Courts,  when,  as  he  maintained,  it  should 
be  treated  by  the  Executive,  as  relating  directly  to 
treaty  obligations.  This  letter  led  to  prolonged  cor 
respondence,  in  which  Mr.  Webster  defended  the 
course  pursued  by  his  government  so  successfully  as 
to  silence,  if  not  satisfy,  the  Spanish  Envoy.  And 
as  a  portion  of  the  diplomatic  history  of  the  period, 
we  must  not  omit  mention  of  the  admirable  instruc 
tions  addressed  to  Mr.  Caleb  Gushing,  when  that 
gentleman  was  about  to  embark  on  the  delicate  mis 
sion  of  opening  relations  with  China;  nor  the  cor 
respondence  with  the  Portuguese  Envoy,  upon  the 
subject  of  duties  upon  foreign  wines.  In  both  of 
these  papers,  relatively  unimportant  as  they  undoubt 
edly  are,  the  extensive  information,  and  comprehen 
sive  views  of  the  statesman,  were  brought  into  vivid 
relief. 

As  completing  the  history  of  this  era  of  Ameri 
can  politics,  we  are  obliged  to  refer  to  two  magnifi 
cent  displays  of  his  rhetorical  powers,  which  Mr. 
Webster,  the  orator,  felt  called  upon  to  make  on  be 
half  of  Mr.  Webster,  the  statesman.  Returning,  af 
ter  the  arduous  duties  of  the  summer,  to  enjoy  a  few 
weeks  of  relaxation  at  Marshfield,  he  was  obliged  to 
listen  to  a  pressing  invitation  from  his  Boston  ad 
mirers,  that  he  should  address  them  publicly  on  the 
foreign  and  domestic  policy  of  the  country.  The  dis 
course  was  delivered  to  a  crowded  audience,  in  Fa- 


104  MEMORIALS    OF 


neuil  Hall,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1842.  It  is 
needless  to  say,  that  it  traversed  the  whole  ground 
with  masterly  skill,  distinctness,  and  compactness  of 
expression,  and  that  the  recent  negotiations  received 
that  luminous  exposition  and  earnest  vindication, 
which  was  less  needed  perhaps  in  Massachusetts  than 
elsewhere,  where  the  subject  was  less  familiarly  un 
derstood.  Partisan  bitterness,  however,  denied  the 
question  any  rest  from  controversy.  It  was  agitated 
among  other  electioneering  elements  in  the  canvass 
of  1844,  and  in  1846,  when  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Web 
ster  found  his  political  opponents  unsparing  of  their 
objections  against  the  Treaty.  In  April,  of  that  year, 
he  took  occasion  to  address  the  Senate  in  justifica 
tion  of  that  measure.  Mr.  Charles  Jared  Ingersoll, 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from 
Pennsylvania,  had  made  the  treaty,  and  the  Ameri 
can  negotiator,  the  topic  of  virulent  diatribes  before 
that  body,  never  allowing  his  arguments  to  fall  short 
where  a  ready  calumny  was  at  hand  to  piece  them 
out.  Messrs.  Dix  and  Dickinson,  the  Senators  from 
New-York,  also  attacked  the  ex-Secretary  ;  the  latter 
in  an  elaborate  speech,  to  which,  when  published,  a 
re-hash  of  Mr.  Ingersoll's  godless  inventions  was 
found  to  be  appended.  The  reply  of  Mr.  Webster 
will  always  rank  among  the  most  splendid  and  char 
acteristic  productions  of  his  mind.  Reviewing  the 
history  of  the  difficulties  adjusted  by  the  treaty,  he 
scored  the  Democratic  party  thoroughly  for  the  re- 
missness.  which  had  left  them  for  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Tyler  to  settle  ;  and  having  amply  vindicated 
that  settlement  beyond  the  possibility  of  further  ca- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  105 


vil,  he  turned  upon  his  assailants,  and  exhausted  up 
on  them  the  stores  of  his  indignant  elocution.  Mr. 
Ingersoll  received  the  full  weight  of  the  charge. 
Never  was  such  a  scathing  torrent  of  contempt,  ridi 
cule,  sarcasm,  and  vituperation,  poured  out  upon  an 
individual  head.  Clearing  away  with  a  rapid  hand 
the  sheltering  falsehoods  beneath  which  the  Pennsyl- 
vanian  had  concealed  himself,  the  orator  held  him 
up  naked  to  the  world,  and  tortured  him  with  all  the 
sharp  weapons  which  the  armories  of  rhetoric  supply 
to  a  just  indignation.  Mr.  Ingersoll,  who  had  been 
more  or  less  in  public  life,  for  the  forty  preceding 
years,  disappeared  after  this  castigation.  He  has 
since  confined  himself  to  domestic  and  professional 
associations. 

But  Mr.  "Webster's  connection  with  the  Cabinet 
of  Mr.  Tyler  was  never  redeemed  from  censure  by 
the  success  of  his  negotiations.  Mr.  Tyler  had  been 
in  office  but  a  short  time  when  it  began  to  be  appa 
rent  that  his  administration  would  not  be  conducted 
in  a  manner  to  command  the  undivided  support  of 
the  party  which  had  raised  him  to  power.  While  in 
the  Senate,  during  the  great  controversy  between 
State  Kights  and  the  Federal  Government,  he  had 
espoused  the  cause  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  had  acted  in 
general  harmony  with  his  views.  His  course  then 
had  prevented  his  enjoying  the  full  confidence  of  the 
Whigs,  at  a  later  day ;  and  his  accession  to  the  Pre 
sidency  soon  put  his  fidelity  to  the  test.  Mr.  Clay 
took  an  early  opportunity  to  introduce  a  bill  for  the 
Charter  of  a  National  Bank.  A  very  large  portion 
of  the  Whig  party,  during  the  canvass,  had  strenu- 


106  MEMORIALS 


ously  resisted  the  endeavor  to  present  the  Bank  as  a 
measure  to  which  the  party  should  be  considered 
pledged.  The  utter  ruin  which  had  overtaken  the 
Old  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  conviction 
that,  during  the  latter  years  of  its  existence,  it  had,  by 
mismanagement  and  corrupt  practices,  richly  deserved 
the  universal  odium  with  which  its  memory  was  covered, 
had  led  them  to  foresee  the  unpopularity  which  any 
attempt  to  create  a  new  one  would  inevitably  incur. 
But,  in  spite  of  this  distrust,  the  overwhelming  par 
liamentary  and  party  strength  of  Mr.  Clay  enabled 
him  to  carry  the  bill  triumphantly  through  Congress, 
and  it  was  presented  to  President  Tyler  for  his  sig 
nature.  This  was  withheld,  and  the  bill  was  vetoed. 
Mr.  Clay  at  once  denounced  the  President  to  the 
indignation  of  his  party,  and  a  whirlwind  of  obloquy 
and  detestation  was  at  once  aroused,  before  which  a 
much  stronger  spirit  than  President  Tyler's  would 
have  been  forced  to  bend.  Mr.  Webster,  who  was 
not  free  from  suspicion  that  personal  ambition  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Clay  had  quite  as  much  to  do  with  this 
crusade  as  regard  for  the  public  good,  with  more 
courage  than  success,  endeavored  to  breast  the  storm, 
He  was  earnest  and  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to 
bring  the  Whigs  into  a  more  tolerant  and  compliant 
mood.  At  a  gathering  of  the  leading  Whigs  of  Con 
gress,  had  at  his  own  house,  he  strongly  urged  upon 
them  the  folly  of  throwing  away  all  the  results  of 
the  great  popular  victory  they  had  gained,  because 
they  had  been  disappointed  in  a  single  measure,  and 
that,  too,  one  of  questionable  necessity  and  expedi 
ency.  His  efforts  were  unavailing.  The  thunder  of 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  107 


Mr.  Clay's  denunciations  drowned  his  tones  of  re 
monstrance — the  whole  Whig  sentiment  of  the  coun 
try  swayed  respondent  to  his  tempestuous  wrath. 
Mr.  Webster's  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet  indignantly 
tendered  their  resignations,  hurling  at  the  President, 
as  they  left,  the  most  dishonoring  charges  of  party 
faithlessness  and  personal  falsehood. 

Strong  in  the  conviction  of  the  rectitude  of  his 
own  purposes,  unwilling  to  yield  to  what  he  deemed 
a  transient  ebullition  of  popular  feeling,  and  pro 
foundly  penetrated  by  the  importance  of  pending 
negotiations  with  foreign  powers,  Mr.  Webster  deter 
mined,  against  the  most  resolute  entreaties  of  his 
political  friends,  to  retain  his  seat,  and  he  did  so 
retain  it  for  about  two  years.  For  this  he  was  se 
verely  censured  by  the  great  body  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  especially  by  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Clay,  who 
were  not  over  charitable  in  the  construction  they  put 
upon  his  motives,  or  in  the  epithets  they  applied  to 
his  conduct.  During  his  continuance  in  office,  a 
State  Convention  of  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts 
assembled  in  Boston,  to  nominate  candidates  for 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  at  the  State 
election.  Hon.  Abbot  Lawrence  presided  over  its 
deliberations,  and  a  series  of  resolutions  were  adopt 
ed,  expressing  in  strong  terms  disapprobation  of  the 
course  of  Mr.  Tyler,  and  declaring,  on  behalf  of  the 
Whigs  of  Massachusetts,  a  "full  and  final  separa 
tion  from  the  President  of  the  United  States."  Not 
long  afterwards.  Mr.  Webster  being  on  a  visit  to 
Boston,  was  tendered  by  the  Whigs — many  of  whom 
had  been  prominent  in  the  Convention — the  compli- 


108  MEMORIALS    OF 


ment  of  a  public  dinner.  He  declined  the  dinner, 
but  expressed  a  willingness  to  meet  his  fellow-citizens 
at  Faneuil  Hall.  The  meeting  was  appointed  for 
Sept.  30,  and  was  attended  by  an  immense  concourse 
of  the  people  of  Boston.  Hon.  Jonathan  Chapman, 
Mayor  of  the  city,  presided ;  and,  upon  presenting 
Mr.  Webster  to  the  assembly,  addressed  him  with 
eloquent  compliments  for  his  public  services,  but  with 
special  allusion  to  what  he  styled  the  "  pointed  mean 
ing  of  the  occasion."  He  thanked  him  for  the  honor 
able  attitude  in  which,  "so  far  as  his  department  was 
concerned,  he  had  placed  his  country  before  the 
world.  We  are  sure,"  said  he,  "  whatever  may  befall 
the  country,  that  you  will  be  ready  to  sacrifice  every 
thing  for  her  good,  save  honor,  and  on  that  point, 
amidst  the  perplexities  of  these  perplexing  times,  we 
shall  be  at  ease ;  for  we  know  that  he  who  has  so 
nobly  maintained  his  country's  honor,  may  safely  be 
intrusted  with  his  own." 

Mr.  Webster  opened  his  reply  with  one  of  those 
exquisitely  beautiful  sentences  which  are  scattered 
so  profusely  throughout  his  speeches.  "  I  know  not 
how  it  is,  Mr.  Mayor,"  said  he,  "  but  there  is  some 
thing  in  the  echoes  of  these  walls,  or  in  this  sea  of  up 
turned  faces  which  I  behold  before  me,  or  in  the 
genius  that  always  hovers  over  this  place,  fanning 
ardent  and  patriotic  feeling  by  every  motion  of  its 
wings — I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  there  is  something 
that  excites  me  strangely,  deeply,  before  I  even  be 
gin  to  speak."  Recurring  then  to  the  history  of  his 
life,  to  his  labors  in  their  midst,  and  to  his  public 
services  in  the  various  positions  he  had  been  called 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  109 


to  fill ;  after  a  clear,  condensed  statement  of  the 
diplomatic  labors  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  he 
referred  directly  to  the  remark  of  the  Mayor,  that 
he  might  be  safely  intrusted  to  take  care  of  his  own 
honor  and  reputation.  t:  I  am,"  said  he,  "  exactly  of 
his  opinion.  I  am  quite  of  opinion  that,  on  a  ques 
tion  touching  my  own  honor  and  character,  as  I  am 
to  bear  the  consequences  of  the  decision,  I  had  a 
great  deal  better  be  trusted  to  make  it.  No  man 
feels  more  highly  the  advantage  of  the  advice  of 
friends  than  I  do ;  but  on  a  question  so  delicate  and 
important  as  that,  I  like  to  choose  myself  the  friends 
who  are  to  give  me  advice ;  and  upon  this  subject, 
gentlemen,  I  shall  leave  you  as  enlightened  as  I  found 
you."  With  this  rather  unpromising  preface,  he  pro 
ceeded  to  remark  upon  the  "  outpouring  of  wrath " 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  for  remaining  in  the 
President's  Cabinet.  He  was  "  a  little  hard  to  coax, 
but  as  to  being  driven  that  was  out  of  the  question." 
He  had  chosen  to  trust  to  his  own  judgment,  and 
thinking  he  was  at  a  post  where  he  was  in  the  service 
of  the  country  and  could  do  it  good,  he  had  staid 
there.  Again  apologizing  for  entering  upon  topics  on 
which  his  opinions  might  be  different  from  those  of 
his  audience,  he  cited  the  resolutions  passed  "  by  the 
most  respectable  Convention  of  Whig  delegates," 
which  had  met  in  Boston  a  few  days  before.  He 
noticed  among  them  a  declaration,  made  on  be 
half  of  the  Whigs  of  the  State,  a  "  full  and  final  se 
paration  from  the  President."  Whigs  had  a  right 
to  speak  their  individual  sentiments  everywhere ; 
but  whether  they  might  assume  to  speak  for  others 


110  MEMORIALS    OF 


on  a  point  on  which  those  others  had  given  them  no 
authority,  is  another  question.  "  I  am  a  Whig,"  said 
he — "  I  have  always  been  a  Whig,  and  I  always  will 
be  one  ;  and  if  there  are  any  who  would  turn  me  out 
of  the  pale  of  that  communion,  let  them  see  who  will 
get  out  first.  I  am  ready  to  submit  to  all  decisions 
of  Whig  conventions  on  subjects  on  which  they  are 
authorized  to  make  decisions.  But  it  is  quite  ano 
ther  question,  whether  a  set  of  gentlemen,  however 
respectable  they  may  be  as  individuals,  shall 
have  the  power  to  bind  me  on  matters  which  I 
have  not  agreed  to  submit  to  their  decision."  He 
went  on  to  say  that  three  years  of  the  President's 
term  of  office  still  remained ;  that  great  public  in 
terests  required  his  attention ;  and  asked  whether 
all  his  measures  upon  these  subjects,  however  useful 
they  might  be,  were  to  be  opposed  by  the  Whig 
party  of  Massachusetts,  right  or  wrong.  There  were 
a  great  many  Massachusetts  Whigs  also  in  office — 
Collectors,  District  Attorneys,  Postmasters,  Marshals. 
What  was  to  become  of  them  in  this  separation  ? 
Mr.  Everett,  our  Minister  in  England,  was  he,  expect 
ed  to  come  home  on  this  separation,  and  yield  his 
place  to  somebody  else  ?  "  And  in  regard  to  the  indi 
vidual  who  addresses  you — what  do  his  brother  Whigs 
mean  to  do  with  him  ?  Where  do  they  mean  to  place 
me  ?  Generally,  when  a  divorce  takes  place,  the 
parties  divide  their  children.  I  am  anxious  to  know 
where,  in  the  case  of  this  divorce,  1  shall  fall."  Mr. 
Webster  said  he  had  alluded  to  this  matter  because 
he  could  not  fail  to  see  that  the  resolution  had  an  inten 
tional  or  an  unintentional  bearing  on  his  position. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  Ill 


It  meant  that  if  he  should  choose  to  remain  in  the 
President's  councils  he  must  cease  to  be  a  Massa 
chusetts  Whig.  "  And  I  am  quite  ready,"  said  he, 
"to  put  that  question  to  the  people  of  Massa 
chusetts."  He  proceeded  to  say  that  there  was  too 
general  a  disposition  to  postpone  all  attempts  to  do 
good  to  the  country  to  some  future  day.  Many 
Whigs  thought  they  saw  a  prospect  of  having  more 
power  than  they  then  had.  But  there  was  a  Whig 
majority  in  Congress,  and  the  substantial  fruits  of 
the  great  victory  of  1840  could,  with  moderate  and 
prudent  councils,  still  be  secured.  But  nothing  but 
cordial  and  fraternal  union  could  save  the  party  from 
renewed  prostration. 

Mr,  Webster's  speech  on  this  occasion  was  one  of 
great  power,  and  it  produced  an  effect  upon  the  sen 
timent  of  the  country.  But  it  could  not  turn  back 
the  tide  of  indignant  public  feeling  which  had  been 
turned  at  the  outset,  by  the  bold  impetuosity  of  Mr. 
Clay  and  the  seconding  efforts  of  the  retiring  Secre 
taries,  against  the  President.  He  gradually  took 
ground  against  the  party  which  had  driven  him  out, 
and,  after  an  imbecile  endeavor  to  purchase  arenomi- 
nation  from  the  party  to  which  he  had  deserted,  became 
its  open  ally  and  subservient  tool.  Mr.  Webster 
resigned  office  in  1843,  and  remained  in  private  life 
during  the  remainder  of  the  Administration.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was  elected  by 
the  President  for  the  special  purpose  of  carrying 
forward  the  Annexation  of  Texas,  a  measure  which 
he  had  been  led  to  espouse  with  great  earnestness, 
though  the  steps  towards  its  accomplishment  were  as 


112  MEMORIALS    OF 


yet  concealed  from  the  knowledge  of  the  country. 
Mr.  Webster,  on  leaving  office,  endeavored  to  arouse 
public  attention  to  the  dangers  that  were  impending 
from  this  quarter  ;  but  his  efforts  were  not  attended 
with  marked  success.  It  was  only  upon  the  eve  of 
another  Presidential  contest  that  the  question  assumed 
its  just  proportions  in  the  public  eye. 

During  his  retirement  from  office  much  of  Mr. 
Webster's  attention  was  engaged  in  professional  pur 
suits,  and  the  year  1844  was  marked  by  several  bril 
liant  exhibitions  of  his  popular  and  forensic  oratory. 
Two  arguments,  the  one  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,'  and  the  other  before  that  of 
Massachusetts,  are  in  his  very  happiest  vein.  The 
first  was  delivered  in  February,  in  the  case  of  F.  F. 
Vidal  and  others,  vs.  the  Executors  of  the  will  of 
Stephen  Girard, — a  case  in  which  property  to  the 
value  of  millions  was  involved.  The  main  ground 
taken  by  Mr.  Webster,  on  behalf  of  the  heirs,  against 
the  validity  of  the  will,  was  that  the  College  at 
Philadelphia,  endowed  by  the  will,  was  not  a  charity, 
because  established  on  Atheistical  principles,  and 
therefore  not  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  laws. 
This  proposition  was  supported  with  all  the  aids  of 
learning  and  ingenuity  ;  and  on  American  soil  no 
more  eloquent  vindication  of  religion  and  its  ministers 
has  ever  been  uttered.  The  speech,  in  a  pamphlet 
form,  was  circulated  extensively  among  the  religious 
world.  It  remains  among  the  host  of  evidences  he 
has  left  us,  of  the  wide  scope  and  infinite  diversity  of 
his  talents,  and  the  respect  he  always  entertained  for 
the  institutions  of  religion.  The  argument  at  Boston, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  113 


in  the  case  of  the  Providence  Railroad  Company 
against  the  City  of  Boston,  is,  from  its  nature,  a 
strictly  legal  effort,  and  therefore  requires  no  especial 
notice  here.  In  June,  of  1844,  the  anniversary  of 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the  completion  of  the 
monument  were  celebrated  with  much  eclat  at  Boston. 
The  speech  of  Mr.  Webster,  who  had  baptized  the 
first  stone  of  the  column  with  a  stream  of  eloquence 
that  shall  remain  classic  while  the  monument  and  the 
language  endure,  was  exceedingly  appropriate,  and 
though  lacking  the  fire  and  imaginative  splendor  of 
his  earlier  efforts,  abounds  with  passages  of  remarkable 
vigor  and  beauty. 

The  Presidential  canvass  of  1844,  opened  by  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Clay,  by  acclamation,  in  the  Whig 
Convention  at  Baltimore.  Mr.  Webster,  being  in 
that  city  at  the  time,  made  a  speech  indicating  his 
earnest  desire  for  the  triumph  of  the  Whig  party  and 
its  principles.  Mr.  Van  Buren,in  a  long  letter  written 
just  upon  the  eve  of  the  Democratic  Convention,  had 
taken  ground  decidedly  against  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  For  this  offence,  among  others,  he  had  been 
set  aside  as  a  candidate,  and  Mr.  Polk  was  nominated 
for  the  Presidency.  Mr.  Clay  had  also  taken  ground 
against  annexation ;  and  the  canvass  was  conducted, 
to  a  very  great  extent,  in  all  sections  of  the  country, 
upon  this  issue.  Mr.  Webster  made  several  public 
addresses  upon  the  subject.  At  Albany,  Philadelphia, 
and  elsewhere,  he  spoke  to  large  assemblies  of  people, 
though  in  all  cases  he  gave  attention  mainly  to  ques 
tions  relating  to  the  commercial,  financial  and  indus 
trial  interests  of  the  country.  There  is  abundant 


114  MEMORIALS    OF 


reason  to  believe  that  if  Mr.  Clay  had  been  content 
with  his  first  declaration  of  opinion  upon  the  subject 
of  annexation,  he  would  have  been  elected.  Subse 
quent  explanations,  made  to  remove  anticipated  ob 
jections  to  his  position  in  Alabama,  and  other  Southern 
States,  deprived  him,  to  a  great  extent,  of  the  benefit 
which  that  position  gave  him  at  the  North. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Congress  of  1845,  Mr.  Web 
ster  resumed  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  having  been 
chosen  to  succeed  Mr.  Choate.  He  found  under  dis 
cussion  some  of  the  gravest  questions  that  had  ever 
agitated  the  country.  The  Oregon  Boundary,  and 
the  results  of  Texan  Annexation,  were  urgent ;  and 
popular  feeling  had  been  worked  up  to  an  extraordi 
nary  pitch  of  excitement  about  both.  The  Democratic 
Platform  had  declared  in  favor  of  ultra  measures.  It 
only  remained  for  the  Whigs,  in  Senate  and  House, 
to  play  the  moderate  role  of  a  minority,  and  as  far  as 
possible  restrain,  the  violence  that  threatened  to  bring 
on  our  heads  two  wars,  for  either  of  which  we  were 
totally  unprepared,  at  the  same  hapless  moment.  The 
Tariff  bill  of  1842  was  likewise  in  imminent  danger; 
and  in  every  point  of  view,  the  posture  of  the  party 
in  relation  to  the  conduct  of  both  the  external  and 
internal  policy  of  the  Government,  was  distressing 
and  difficult.  Mr.  Webster  was  of  course  found  in 
the  van  of  the  minority.  Upon  the  Oregon  question, 
he  maintained  the  line  of  adjustment  to  which  the 
Administration  and  its  supporters  were  finally  obliged 
to  descend.  Having  opposed  the  Annexation  reso 
lutions,  he  was  of  course  opposed  to  the  precipitate 
measures  by  which  we  were  plunged  into  the  war  with 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  115 


Mexico.  And  on  the  Tariff  bill,  he  occupied  the  po 
sition  he  had  always  occupied,  by  defending  the  Whig 
policy  to  the  very  last.  Of  the  eminently  judicious 
policy  of  the  Whigs  with  regard  to  the  prosecution  of 
the  war,  Mr.  Webster  deserves  the  credit.  While 
protesting  against  the  measure  in  its  origin  and  pro 
gress,  they  patriotically  sustained  the  Administration 
with  the  most  liberal  supplies,  and  facilitated  every 
approach  to  the  only  term  then  attainable,  an  honor 
able  and  remunerative  peace. 

The  settlement  of  the  Oregon  Boundary  dispute, 
which  had  existed  for  many  years,  was  effected  during 
the  first  year  of  Mr.  Folk's  administration,  by  an 
amicable  division  of  the  Territory  to  which  both  Eng 
land  and  the  United  States  laid  claim.  A  bill  was 
promptly  introduced  and  passed  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  to  organize  a  Government  for  the  Territory 
thus  acquired.  When  it  reached  the  Senate,  it  was 
amended,  by  making  the  Missouri  Compromise  a  part 
of  it — excluding  Slavery  above,  and  admitting  it  be 
low,  the  parallel  of  36°  SO/  north  latitude.  This 
amendment  was  disagreed  to  in  the  House  ;  and  when 
the  bill  came  back,  a  long  discussion  was  had  upon  a 
motion  that  the  Senate  should  recede.  On  the  12th 
of  August,  1848,  Mr.  Webster  spoke  in  favor  of  the 
motion,  insisting  upon  the  right  of  Congress  to  ex 
clude  Slavery  from  this  Territory,  upon  the  expedi 
ency  of  exercising  that  right,  upon  the  groundlessness 
of  the  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  South  that  their 
property  was  excluded,  and  against  any  further  ex 
tension  of  slave  territory.  Upon  the  question  of  ex 
tending  Southern  property,  he  said  that  the  whole 


116  MEMORIALS    OF 


complaint  was  simply  this :  "  The  Southern  States 
have  peculiar  laws,  and  by  those  laws  there  is  prop 
erty  in  slaves.  This  is  purely  local.  The  real  mean 
ing,  then,  of  Southern  gentlemen,  in  making  this  com 
plaint,  is,  that  they  cannot  go  into  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States  carrying  with  them  their  own  pecu 
liar  local  law — a  law  which  creates  property  in  per 
sons.  This  demand  I,  for  one,  shall  resist."  He 
closed  his  remarks  by  laying  down  three  propositions: 

First.  That  when  this  Constitution  was  adopted, 
nobody  looked  for  any  new  acquisition  of  territory  to 
be  formed  into  slaveholding  States. 

Second.  That  the  principles  of  the  Constitution 
prohibited,  and  were  intended  to  prohibit,  and  should 
be  construed  to  prohibit,  all  interference  of  the  Gen 
eral  Government  with  Slavery,  as  it  existed,  and  as  it 
still  exists,  in  the  States.  And 

Third.  Looking  to  the  operation  of  these  new  ac 
quisitions,  which  have  in  this  great  degree  had  the 
effect  of  strengthening  that  interest  in  the  South  by 
the  addition  of  five  States,  I  feel  that  there  is  nothing 
unjust,  nothing  of  which  any  honest  man  can  com 
plain,  if  he  is  intelligent ;  I  feel  that  there  is  nothing 
with  which  the  civilized  world,  if  they  take  notice  of 
so  humble  a  person  as  myself,  will  reproach  me  when 
I  say,  as  I  said  the  other  day,  that  I  have  made  up 
my  mind  for  one,  that  under  no  circumstances  will  I 
consent  to  the  further  extension  of  the  area  of  Slavery 
in  the  United  States,  or  to  the  further  increase  of 
Slave  representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  Senate  finally  receded  from  its  amendment, 
and  the  bill  passed  with  a  clause  for  ever  excluding 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  117 


Slavery  from  the  Territory — in  which  forfc  it  received 
the  signature  of  the  President. 

In  the  Spring  of  1847,  Mr.  Webster  visited  the 
Southern  States,  passing  rapidly  through  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  to  South  Carolina.  At«Charles- 
ton,  he  was  honored  by  a  complimentary  dinner  from 
the  New  England  Society  of  that  city,  and  similar 
hospitalities  were  paid  him  at  Columbia,  Augusta,  and 
Savannah.  He  designed  going  to  New  Orleans,  but 
ill  health  compelled  him  to  return. 

The  Mexican  war  meantime  had  been,  prosecuted, 
by  the  skill  and  valor  of  the  American  arms,  to  a  tri 
umphant  close.  The  capital  and  all  the  principal 
posts  of  the  country  were  in  our  possession,  and 
a  treaty  had  been  concluded  by  which  Mexico  ceded 
to  us  immense  portions  of  her  territory,  comprising 
all  of  New  Mexico  and  a  large  part  of  California. 
Mr.  Webster,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1848,  opposed 
the  treaty,  on  the  ground  that  it  brought  with  it 
large  accessions  of  territory  which  we  did  not  need, 
which  would  only  add  new  Slave  States  to  the  Union, 
which  would  bring  in  new  States  of  comparatively 
small  population,  and  thus  vastly  augment  the  power 
of  the  Senate  over  that  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  and  thus  destroy  the  just  relation  between  the 
two,  and  prove  in  every  way  injurious  to  the  country. 
"  I  think,"  said  he,  u  I  see  a  course  adopted  which  is 
likely  to  turn  the  Constitution  of  the  land  into  a  de 
formed  monster,  into  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing  ; 
in  fact,  a  frame  of  an  unequal  Government,  not  found 
ed  on  popular  representation,  not  founded  on  equal 
ity,  but  on  the  grossest  inequality  ;  and  I  think  that 


118  MEMORIALS    OF 


this  process  Hill  go  on,  or  that  there  is  danger  that 
it  will  go  on,  until  this  Union  shall  fall  to  pieces.  I 
resist  it,  to-day  and  always.  Whoever  falters  or 
whoever  flies,  I  continue  the  contest !"  The  treaty 
was  ratified.  New  Mexico  and  California  became 
parts  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  great  question 
thence  arising,  to  be  submitted  to  the  issues  of  a 
Presidential  canvass,  related  to  the  nature  of  the 
territorial  government  under  which  they  should  be 
organized.  The  House  insisted  on  the  exclusion  of 
slavery.  The  Senate  resisted  it ;  and  between  the 
two  the  whole  question  was  left  unsettled,  and  mili 
tary  power  alone  kept  the  territories  from  a  state  of 
anarchy. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  nominated 
General  Cass  for  the  Presidency,  greatly  to  the  dis 
gust  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren.  The  Whig 
Convention  met  at  Philadelphia,  and  nominated  Ge 
neral  Taylor.  Mr.  Webster  declined  to  be  a  candi 
date  for  the  Vice  Presidency,  declaring  himself  a 
candidate  for  the  first  office,  and  his  purpose  to  re 
main  so  until  the  representatives  of  the  Whig  party 
should  decide  otherwise.  He  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  nomination  of  General  Taylor,  partly  because  he 
was  opposed  to  making  Presidents  of  military  men, 
and  partly  because  he  believed  that  the  condition  of 
the  country  required  the  selection  of  a  Northern 
man,  known  to  be  true  in  resisting  the  steady  aggres 
sions  of  Slavery.  The  result  led  him  to  despair  of 
ever  seeing  the  North  united ;  and  when  the  profess 
edly  exclusive  friends  of  freedom  in  the  territories, 
selected  Mr.  Van  Buren  as  their  candidate  and  re- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  119 


presentative,  he  was  inclined  to  abandon  all  further 
hope  of  making  any  successful  stand  against  the  do 
mination  of  the  Slave-holding  States.  Falling  back, 
therefore,  upon  the  other  issues  which  had  divided 
the  two  political  parties,  he  «gave  his  support  to  the 
Whig  candidate  ;  taking  care  to  say  that  it  was  not 
because  he  believed  him  to  be  the  most  fit  and  proper 
person  for  that  position,  but  because  he  believed  his 
election  would  be  far  better  for  the  country  than  that 
of  General  Cass.  General  Taylor  was  elected. 

Meantime  the  people  of  California,  getting  no 
Government  from  Congress,  made  one  for  themselves. 
They  met  in  State  Convention,  and  formed  a  Consti 
tution,  in  which  slavery  was  prohibited.  This  Con 
stitution  was  accepted  by  the  people  at  an  election 
held  for  the  purpose.  President  Taylor  came  into 
office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1849.  Owing  to  a  mis 
understanding  between  them,  growing  out  of  acci 
dental  circumstances,  which  involved  blame  upon 
neither  side,  there  were  no  confidential  relations  be 
tween  the  President  and  Mr.  Webster.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives  the  Anti-Slavery  proviso  was  in 
sisted  on  as  an  essential  feature  of  any  Government 
for  the  territories  that  might  be  passed.  This  posi 
tion  was  sustained  by  resolutions  in  all  the  non- 
Slaveholding  States,  by  large  public  meetings  and  by 
Northern  sentiment  generally.  The  South  felt  high 
ly  indignant  at  these  attempts  to  exclude  Slavery 
from  the  new  territories.  A  meeting  of  a  majority 
of  the  members  of  Congress  from  the  Slaveholding 
States  was  held  at  the  Capital,  at  one  of  which  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  appointed  to  draw  up  an  address  of  the 


120  MEMORIALS    OF 


Southern  delegates  to  their  constituents.  The  ad 
dress  thus  prepared  was  afterwards  adopted,  and  re 
ceived  the  signature  of  forty-eight  members  of  Con 
gress  from  Southern  States.  These  movements  led 
to  a  very  considerable*  excitement  throughout  the 
country,  though  neither  the  state  of  public  feeling, 
nor  the  movements  of  any  portion  of  the  people,  were 
as  hostile  or  menacing  to  the  peace  of  the  country  as 
had  been  witnessed  on  previous  occasions  of  our  his 
tory.  Mr.  Clay  had  presented  a  series  of  proposi 
tions,  five  in  number,  which  were  designed  to  be  em 
bodied  in  a  single  act,  and  to  constitute  one  measure 
for  compromising  and  adjusting  the  difficulty.  Pre 
sident  Taylor  was  understood  to  be  in  favor  of  act 
ing  upon  each  separately,  and  on  its  merits,  doing 
whatever  justice  should  dictate,  and  trusting  to  the 
attachment  of  the  people,  and  the  vigor  of  the  pow 
ers  with  which  the  Constitution  clothes  the  Govern 
ment,  to  prevent  any  serious  results.  He  was  in  fa 
vor  of  admitting  California  with  the  Constitution 
which  the  people  had  framed,  and  of  leaving  the  ter 
ritories  to  settle  the  question  of  admitting  or  exclud 
ing  slavery  for  themselves.  Deputations  of  South 
ern  members  of  Congress  waited  upon  him,  with  ear 
nest  remonstrances  and  equally  earnest  menaces  ;  but 
neither  shook  his  convictions  or  disturbed  his  pur 
poses.  The  compromise  measure  of  Mr.  Clay  failed 
to  command  the  assent  of  Congress.  And  on  the  7th 
of  March,  Mr.  Webster  made  an  extended  and  im 
pressive  speech  upon  the  whole  subject,  intended  to 
present  a  basis  upon  which  all  sections  could  consent 
to  stand,  and  by  which  all  future  collisions  might  be 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  121 


avoided.  He  proposed,  as  practical  measures,  near 
ly  the  plan  of  the  President,  namely  :  the  admission 
of  California,  and  the  organization  of  Territorial 
Governments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  without  any 
jxcluding  clause — urging  that  such  a  clause  would, 
41  this  case,  be  superfluous.  But  he  indicated  a  wil- 
ftngness  to  purchase  the  claim  of  Texas  to  a  portion 
flf  New  Mexico,  which  the  President  proposed  to  sub 
mit  to  the  adjudication  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
made  sundry  declarations  of  his  own  personal  senti 
ments,  indicating  a  strong  disposition  to  make  all 
possible  concessions  to  Southern  demands,  for  the 
sake  of  preserving  the  peace  and  stability  of  the 
Union.  His  speech  on  this  occasion  was  exceedingly 
able,  and  awakened  a  degree  of  public  interest  fully 
equal  to  that  of  any  of  his  previous  efforts.  Con 
nected,  to  some  extent,  with  these  measures,  was  a 
bill  amending  the  law  of  1793  for  the  recovery  of  fu 
gitive  slaves,  so  as  to  make  it  more  effectual.  It  was 
originally  introduced  by  Mr.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  and 
received  Mr.  "Webster's  support,  although  he  had 
prepared  and  designed  to  offer  an  amendment,  secur 
ing  to  persons  claimed  as  fugitives  the  benefit  of  a 
trial  by  jury,  to  test  the  question  whether  they  owed 
service  to  their  claimants. 

"We  have  good  reason  for  believing  that  Mr.  "Web 
ster  at  this  time  had  been  disabused  of  erroneous  im 
pressions  that  had  led,  as  noticed  above,  to  a  partial 
estrangement  between  himself  and  the  President; 
and  that  he  had  come  to  regard  Gen.  Taylor  as  the 
man  best  fitted  by  position,  and  by  his  views,  to  car 
ry  the  country  tafely  through  the  crisis.  This,  how- 
6 


122  MEMORIALS    OF 


ever,  belongs  to  the  secret  history  of  those  important 
events,  and  the  time  for  writing  that, — even  if  we 
were  competent  and  possessed  of  the  requisite  mate 
rial, — has  not  yet  come.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
if  Gen.  Taylor  had  lived,  Mr.  Webster  would  have 
been  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Administration 
in  the  Senate,  and  that  affairs  would  undoubtedly 
have  taken  a  different  course.  At  this  juncture, 
however,  Gen.  Taylor  died,  and  Mr.  Fillmore,  then 
Vice-President,  succeeded  to  the  office.  Mr.  Web 
ster  was  at  once  called  by  him,  and  by  the  voice  of 
the  country,  to  the  post  which  he  occupied  at  the 
time  of  his  decease.  The  office  was  no  longer  op 
pressed  with  those  burdens  of  unfinished  business, 
which  had  encumbered  it  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren's  term.  But  it  had  nevertheless  its  share  of  pe 
culiar  responsibilities.  The  administration  of  Mr. 
Fillmore  was  required  to  enforce  with  the  whole 
weight  of  its  exalted  influence  the  conditions  of  the 
Compromise,  which  were  speedily  enacted  into  laws. 
Some  of  those  conditions  offended  the  moral  feelings 
and  prejudices  of  one  section  of  the  Union :  and  the 
other  pressed  all  the  more  eagerly  for  their  relentless 
fulfilment.  To  no  portions  of  the  country  were  the 
Compromise  measures  more  distasteful  than  to  New 
England,  and  to  Mr.  Webster's  own  State.  The  Se 
cretary,  nevertheless,  did  not  hesitate  to  lend  the 
whole  strength  of  his  popularity  and  of  his  intellec 
tual  resources  to  reconcile  the  reluctant  North.  His 
zeal,  perhaps,  transcended  the  suggestions  of  personal 
and  political  expediency.  Some  of  it  was  positively 
due  to  the  malignant  violence  and  keenness  with 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  123 


which  his  course  had  been  hailed  by  Abolitionists  and 
ultra  Free-Soilers ;  but  those  who  knew  Mr.  Webster 
most  intimately,  bear  witness  that  the  principal  mo 
tive  of  his  course  from  first  to  last  was  an  unwaver 
ing  conviction  that  the  duration  of  the  Union  and  the 
sanctity  of  the  Constitution,  depended  upon  entire 
acquiescence  in  those  pacificatory  conventions.  The 
effect  upon  the  state  of  feeling  at  the  North  was  per 
haps  fortunate  for  the  country ;  but  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  a  large  number  of  personal  friends  and 
veteran  supporters  of  the  statesman  were  thencefor 
ward  obliged  to  temper  their  admiration  with  some 
portion  of  regret. 

It  was  only  a  few  weeks  after  Mr.  Webster's  ac 
cession  to  the  Secretaryship  of  State,  that  the  letter 
of  Chevalier  Hulseman,  in  relation  to  an  alleged  in 
terference  of  the  American  government  in  the  inter 
nal  affairs  of  Austria,  was  addressed  to  the  Depart 
ment.  This  document,  famous  only  for  the  response 
it  provoked,  contained  a  recital  of  complaints  pre 
ferred  by  the  Imperial  Court,  in  consequence  of  Mr. 
Dudley  Mann's  mission  of  observation  to  Austria  and 
Hungary,  and  the  reports  made  by  that  agent,  in 
which  language*  disrespectful  to  the  Governments  of 
Russia  and  Austria,  was  alleged  to  have  been  used  ; 
and  the  Austrian  Charge  felt  impelled  to  enter  a  pro 
test  against  what  his  principals  chose  to  regard  as  an 
act  of  impertinent  intervention.  The  reply  of  Mr. 
Webster,  which  was  withheld  for  some  time  as  if  to 
aggravate  the  contemptuous  rejoinder  by  a  preface  of 
contemptuous  silence,  is  fresh  in  every  recollection. 
Its  lofty  and  dignified  tone,  a  tone  indeed  of  haughty 


124  MEMORIALS    OF 


condescension  ;  the  faithful  and  unanswerable  refuta 
tion  it  offered  to  some  of  Mr.  Hulseman's  allegations, 
and  the  air  with  which  controversy  about  others  was 
declined ;  the  rebuke  administered  to  the  Austrian 
Government  for  its  despotic  barbarity  ;  the  bold  and 
unmistakable  statement  of  the  American  policy  to 
ward  a  people  ridding  itself  of  such  a  yoke  as  that 
imposed  upon  the  Hungarians ;  these  traits,  and  the 
animated  eloquence  with  which  they  were  framed, 
constitute  the  note  to  the  Austrian  Charge  one  of  the 
finest  papers  in  the  archives  of  diplomacy.  It  will 
remain  as  a  model  for  diplomatic  controversy  hereaf 
ter,  where  republican  practice  is  called  in  question, 
and  republican  frankness  is  demanded  to  justify  it. 
It  will  be  regarded  as  the  authority  upon  all  matters 
of  external  policy.  And  scholars  and  general  readers 
will  recur  to  it  as  a  pattern  of  literary  elegance  and 
intellectual  brilliancy. 

In  May,  1851,  Mr.  Webster  accompanying  the 
President  and  his  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet,  visited 
the  State  of  New-York,  on  the  occasion  of  celebrat 
ing  the  completion  of  the  New-York  and  Erie  Rail 
road.  On  reaching  Dunkirk,  he  was  detained  there 
by  the  illness  of  his  son,  and  compelled  to  separate 
from  the  rest  of  the  party.  At  Buffalo  he  was  com 
plimented  by  a  public  dinner,  at  which  he  made  an 
extended  and  admirable  speech,  mainly  upon  the 
rapid  growth  of  that  section  of  the  State,  with  allu 
sions  to  some  of  the  leading  topics  that  had  recently 
engaged  public  attention.  The  next  day,  on  the 
22d,  he  addressed  the  people  of  Buffalo  more  direct 
ly  upon  the  subjects  which  were  then  prominent  in 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  125 


the  public  mind,  vindicating  the  policy  of  the  Admin 
istration  upon  all  points,  and  defending  his  own 
course.  He  was  greeted  also  by  large  public  gather 
ings  of  people  at  Rochester,  Albany,  and  other  points 
along  the  route,  at  all  of  which  he  made  addresses 
more  or  less  extended. 

Very  soon  after  his  return  to  "Washington,  Mr. 
Webster's  attention  was  called  to  our  relations  with 
Spain,  in  consequence  of  the  expeditions  against 
Cuba,  to  which  General  Lopez  and  a  large  number  of 
American  citizens  fell  victims.  His  offices,  less 
promptly  rendered  than  an  impatient  public  sentiment 
demanded,  procured  the  release  of  a  large  number  of 
prisoners  who  had  been  carried  to  Spain,  and  subse 
quently  obtained  the  discharge  of  Mr.  John  S. 
Thrasher,  whose  dubious  citizenship  evoked  from  the 
Secretary  an  able  discussion  of  the  law  of  domicil. 
The  rough  treatment  of  the  Spanish  Consul  at  New 
Orleans  by  the  populace,  inflamed  by  the  cruelties 
practised  upon  the  soldiers  of  the  expedition  by  the 
Spanish  authorities  of  Cuba,  was  likewise  the  sub 
ject  of  correspondence  and  reparation.  The  last 
year  of  Mr.  Webster's  life  was  occupied  with  several 
diplomatic  questions  of  the  highest  importance,  but 
which  he  was  prevented  from  completing  by  the  hand 
of  death.  These  were  the  revival  of  the  Clayton 
and  Bulwer  Treaty  in  relation  to  Central  American 
affairs ;  the  Tehuantepec  Treaty ;  the  question  of 
the  right  of  fishery ;  and  that  of  the  ownership  of 
the  Lobos  Islands.  As  these  are  contemporary  mat 
ters,  and  opinions  about  them  still  variable,  because 
not  founded  upon  the  most  ample  supplies  of  infor- 


126  MEMORIALS    OF 


mation,  and  as  their  consummation  will  now  pass  into 
other  hands,  we  do  not  think  proper  to  admit  them 
into  our  estimate  of  the  Statesman.  We  know  no 
thing  of  the  issue  that  might  have  been  given  to  any 
of  them  had  the  illustrious  diplomatist  survived.  It 
is  not  worth  while,  with  the  lights  before  us,  to  say 
any  thing  more  than  that  the  action  of  Mr.  Webster 
was  undoubtedly  the  result  of  entire  devotion  to 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  truest  interests  of  the 
country,  and  that  whatever  room  there  may  be  to 
question  the  soundness  of  his  conclusions,  there  is  no 
reason  to  impeach  his  sincerity  and  integrity. 

In  tracing  this  outline  of  the  biography  of  a  man 
who  fills  in  American  history  a  place  equal  in  honor 
and  dignity,  though  differing  in  kind,  with  those  oc 
cupied  by  Pitt,  Fox,  and  Burke,  in  the  history  of 
England,  we  have  been  obliged  to  pass  by  many  of  those 
occasions  when  he  came  in  more  immediate  contact 
with  the  people.  In  the  published  collection  of  his 
works,  there  are  various  orations,  addresses,  and  let 
ters,  which  excited  the  highest  applause  at  the  time 
of  their  publication,  and  remain  as  witnesses  of  the 
diversified  qualities  and  resources  of  his  mind.  We 
might  mention  among  these  his  eulogistic  tributes  to 
General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Calhoun ;  his  various  ad 
dresses  to  his  friends  in  Boston  and  neighbors  at 
Marshfield ;  his  oration  at  the  New  Hampshire  festi 
val  ;  his  capital  paper  read  last  winter  before  the 
New-York  Historical  Society,  and  published  in  the 
Daily  Times  ;  his  letter  to  Hon.  Isaac  Hill,  and  to 
our  Minister  at  Constantinople,  in  relation  to  the  re 
lease  of  the  Hungarian  refugees.  No  one  of  these 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  127 


but  illustrates  some  strong,  masculine,  but  exquisitely 
sculptured  feature  of  his  Titanic  intellect ;  and 
forms  one  of  the  many  links  by  which  he  attracted 
to  himself,  not  only  the  popular  admiration,  but  the 
admiration,  the  esteem,  the  enthusiastic  devotion  of 
all  educated  men. 

It  would  however  be  unjust  to  his  memory  to  pass 
unnoticed  his  opinions  and  action  in  regard  to  the 
great  event  by  which  in  future  time  the  current  year 
will  be  distinguished, — the  visit  of  the  Hungarian 
Kossuth  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Webster  had 
early  evinced  the  warm  interest  which  he  felt  in  the 
welfare  of  that  noble  martyr  to  the  cause  of  Consti 
tutional  Liberty  in  Hungary,  by  his  letter  of  instruc 
tions  to  Hon.  George  P.  Marsh,  our  Minister  at  Con 
stantinople,  directing  him  to  use  all  the  influence  of 
his  official  position  to  prevent  his  surrender  to  the 
Austrian  Government,  and  to  permit  his  retirement 
to  the  United  States.  Governor  Kossuth  reached 
New- York  on  the  6th  of  December,  1851,  and  at  once 
entered  upon  that  great  pilgrimage  of  romance,  and 
of  love  to  the  crushed  hopes  and  liberties  of  his  na 
tive  land,  which  stands  without  parallel  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  "  For  the  first  time,"  says  the  most 
eloquent  American  living,  in  speaking  of  his  appeals 
to  the  pity  of  the  people  of  this  Republic, — "  for  the 
first  time  since  the  transcendent  genius  of  Demosthenes 
strove  with  the  downward  age  of  Greece ;  or  since 
the  Prophets  of  Israel  announced, — each  tone  of  the 
hymn  grander,  sadder  than  before, — the  successive 
footfalls  of  the  approaching  Assyrian,  beneath  whose 
spear  the  Law  should  cease  and  the  vision  be  seen  no 


128  MEMORIALS    OF 


more  ;  our  ears,  our  hearts,  have  drank  the  sweetest, 
most  mournful,  most  awful  of  the  tones  which  man 
may  ever  utter,  or  may  ever  hear, — the  eloquence  of 
an  Expiring  Nation.  When  shall  we  be  quite  cer 
tain  again,  that  the  lyre  of  Orpheus  did  not  kindle 
savage  natures  to  a  transient  discourse  of  reason ; 
did  not  suspend  the  labours  and  charm  the  pains  of 
the  damned  j  did  not  lay  the  guardian  of  the  grave 
asleep,  and  bring  back  Eurydice  from  the  region  be 
yond  the  river,  to  the  warm,  upper  air  ?"  At  the  in 
vitation  of  Congress,  Kossuth  visited  Washington, 
and  on  the  7th  of  January,  partook  of  a  public  ban 
quet  tendered  to  him  by  a  large  number  of  the  mem 
bers  of  both  Houses.  Mr.  Webster  was  present  on 
this  occasion,  and  made  a  speech,  in  which,  although 
restrained  by  the  proprieties  of  his  position,  from  mak 
ing  any  allusion  to  the  sentiments  or  intended  action 
of  the  Government,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  declare 
his  entire  sympathy  with  the  attempt  of  Hungary  to 
achieve  her  independence,  and  his  opinion  that  she  was 
entitled,  by  her  population,  by  her  institutions,  and 
by  the  valor  of  her  people,  to  an  independent  na 
tional  existence.  He  also  referred  to  the  speech  which 
he  made  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  1824, 
upon  the  principles  involved  in  the  Greek  revolution  ; 
and  declared  that  he  adhered  to  them  in  every  re 
spect,  and  was  quite  ready  to  apply  them  to  whatever 
case  might  be  presented.  The  citations  we  have  made, 
in  a  previous  portion  of  this  paper,  from  that  speech, 
supersede  the  necessity  of  dwelling  further  upon  the 
specific  purport  of  this  declaration.  In  letters  writ 
ten,  in  reply  to  various  invitations  to  attend  public 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  129 


meetings  upon  the  subject,  he  expressed  similar  views 
with  equal  emphasis. 

Mr.  "Webster  has  achieved  high  distinction  in 
three  apparently  incompatible  walks  of  life — walks 
that  are  incompatible  to  all  but  men  of  superior  ge 
nius.  As  a  lawyer,  he  has  for  very  many  years  held 
the  foremost  rank.  Surpassed  by  many  in  legal 
learning,  by  some  in  logical  power,  and  by  a  few  in 
the  eloquence  of  his  appeals  to  the  jury,  in  the  com 
bination  of  all  these  great  faculties,  he  stands  unri 
valled.  As  a  statesman,  in  the  most  comprehensive 
meaning  of  that  large  word,  no  American,  except 
Alexander  Hamilton,  can  maintain  a  comparison 
with  him.  Mr.  Calhoun  had  a  more  acute  and  meta 
physical  mind;  Mr.  Clay, with  a  more  electric  nature, 
had  far  greater  sagacity  in  reading  public  sentiment, 
and  in  gaining  command  of  the  springs  of  popular 
attachment ;  and  each  of  those  great  men  held  in 
more  complete  control  the  opinions  and  conduct  of 
large  masses  of  their  countrymen.  JBut  in  that  large, 
liberal  comprehensiveness  which  saw  all  around  and 
all  through  every  subject — which  studied  and  judged 
every  thing  in  all  its  relations,  and  in  that  high- 
toned,  unbending,  uncompromising  dignity  of  thought, 
of  language  and  of  manner,  with  which  he  was  al 
ways  clothed,  and  which  gave  infinite  impressiveness 
to  every  thing  he  did  or  said — neither  of  them,  nor 
any  other  American,  living  or  dead,  was  equal  to  him.  • 
His  political  career  has  been  marked  by  greater  con 
sistency  of  principle  than  that  of  most  of  his  distin 
guished  cotcmporaries,  and  by  quite  as  close  adher 
ence  to  a  single  system  of  measures  as  is  compatible 
6* 


130  MEMORIALS  OP 


with  wisdom  in  a  science  which  is,  in  fact,  only  a 
science  of  expedients.  Upon  the  question  of  the 
Tariff,  he  changed  his  policy — but  only  to  meet 
changes  in  the  business  relations  and  interests  of  the 
section  of  the  country  for  which  he  acted.  At  a 
still  later  day,  during  the  struggles  of  1 850,  for  sec 
tional  supremacy,  Mr.  Webster  held  a  different  position 
from  that  which  he  occupied  with  such  distinction 
during  the  similar  convulsions  of  1833.  But  the  prin 
ciples  which  he  maintained  on  both  these  occasions 
were  essentially  the  same:  it  was  only  upon  the  prac 
tical  measures  in  which  they  were  to  be  embodied, 
that  he  had  changed.  And,  always — in  all  these 
cases  and  in  all  the  acts  of  his  life,  in  every  thing  he 
ever  did  or  said,  from  the  earliest  day  of  his  public 
service  down  to  the  latest  syllable  of  his  recorded 
time,— he  lived,  and  moved,  and  had  his  being,  under 
the  domination  of  an  ever-present  love  of  Country, 
which  knew  no  change,  and  left  no  act  or  word  of  his 
life  unmarked  by  its  presence  and  its  power.  A  more 
thorough  American  never  trod  the  continent  than 
Daniel  Webster.  He  loved  his  country;  he  bowed 
before  the  wisdom  and  holy  patriotism  of  its  founders 
and  its  fathers  ;  he  reverenced  the  Constitution  which 
gave  it  national  being  and  position  in  the  view  of  the 
world ;  and  he  devoted  all  the  energies  of  his  life  to 
its  defence  against  whatever  threatened,  from  any 
quarter,  to  weaken  its  foundations  or  impair  its 
strength.  For  this  high  service,  rendered  with  such 
matchless  power,  and  fruitful  of  influences  which  will 
make  themselves  felt  at  every  period  of  our  future 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  131 

history,  he  merits  and  will  receive  the  profoundest 
gratitude  of  every  heart. 

But,  besides  the  reputation  which  he  won  as  a 
lawyer  and  a  statesman,  Mr.  Webster  has  received 
the  highest  rank  as  a  literary  man.  His  speeches, 
his  letters,  his  orations — all  the  products  of  his  pen 
and  the  utterances  of  his  tongue,  will  be  studied  and 
admired  by  future  ages,  not  less  for  their  consummate 
literary  merit,  than  for  the  qualities  more  directly 
connected  with  the  special  purposes  for  which  they 
were  prepared.  In  the  early  part  of  his  life,  during 
his  college  days  and  for  some  years  after,  his  style 
was  exceedingly  vicious  and  bombastic,  to  a  degree 
which  no  one  familiar  only  with  his  later  productions 
would  believe  possible.  There  have  been  few  men  in 
this  country  of  equally  laborious  and  studious  habits 
with  Mr.  Webster ;  and  he  devoted  himself  for  suc 
cessive  years,  with  an  earnest  and  resolute  fidel 
ity,  to  the  correction  and  perfection  of  his  style.  He 
was  fastidious  to  a  remarkable  degree  in  his  choice 
of  words,  in  the  shaping  of  his  sentences,  and  even  in 
the  punctuation  and  emphasis  which  should  be  given 
to  them.  And,  although  during  his  later  years,  as 
the  effect  of  this  rigid  and  relentless  mental  disci 
pline,  easy  and  graceful  elegance  of  language  had 
become  so  habitual  with  him  as  to  seem  devoid  of  all 
effort  and  study,  he  never  laid  aside  this  minute  at 
tention  to  his  style,  or  suffered  any  point,  however  tri 
fling,  of  critical  accuracy  to  escape  his  notice.  Instances 
of  his  conscientious  exactitude,  especially  in  the  reports 
of  his  speeches,  have  repeatedly  fallen  under  the  ob 
servation  of  the  present  writer.  A  very  foolish  en- 


132  MEMORIALS    OF 


deavor  has  been  made  by  some  of  Mr.  Webster's 
friends  to  create  the  impression  that  the  great  ora 
tions  and  speeches  which  have  carried  his  celebrity 
all  over  the  world,  were  made  with  little  effort  and 
trifling  preparation.  Even  so  judicious  a  writer  as 
Mr.  Everett,  seeks  to  confirm  the  statement  of  Mr. 
March,  that  the  reply  to  Hayne  was  the  result  of  at 
most  a  few  hours'  reflection,  and  that  all  the  notes  he 
made  for  it  were  contained  upon  one  side  of  a  sheet 
of  paper.  This  latter  statement  is  true,  so  far  as  the 
notes  from  which  he  spoke  were  concerned  ;  but  the 
general  impression  conveyed  in  these  representations 
is  unjust  to  Mr.  Webster,  and  calculated  to  induce 
very  injurious  theories  and  habits  in  the  minds  of 
the  young.  Mr.  Webster  had  prepared  himself  for 
that  debate  with  all  his  usual  care.  He  knew  a  fort 
night  beforehand  the  points  that  would  be  made,  the 
positions  that  would  be  assumed,  and  the  parties  that 
would  be  assailed.  And  we  have  no  doubt  that  all 
those  magnificent  passages  which  live  in  the  memory 
and  glow  in  the  heart  of  all  who  read  them,  were 
prepared  beforehand,  with  the  utmost  care  and  the 
nicest  discrimination  in  the  choice  of  words.  And 
the  same  thing  is  certainly  true  of  many  other  of  his 
most  celebrated  speeches. 

But  great  as  Mr.  Webster  was  in  all  these  high 
spheres  of  intellectual  activity,  no  one  who  has  ever 
had  opportunities  of  judging  will  hesitate  to  say,  that 
he  was  equally  great  in  the  more  restricted  department 
of  Conversation.  He  was  an  accomplished  scholar, 
especially  conversant  with  the  best  portions  -of  English 
literature,  and  more  or  less  familiar  with  every  subject 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  133 


which  engages  attention.  In  a  circle  of  friends,  at 
table,  or  even  in  a  tete-a-tete  with  a  single  person,  his 
conversation  was  the  richest  and  most  instructive  enter 
tainment  that  can  be  conceived.  He  was  sometimes 
a  little  too  didactic  to  suit  the  ideal  of  agoodconverser; 
but  no  hearer  ever  complained  of  this  as  a  fault.  He 
expressed  himself  always,  upon  every  occasion,  and  in 
making  the  most  trifling  remark,  with  that  clearness,  ac 
curacy  and  weighty  dignity  which  were  inseparable  from 
his  nature.  "We  cannot  imagine  a  richer  contribution 
to  the  literature  of  America  and  the  world,  than  would 
be  a  record  of  Mr.  "Webster's  conversations  upon 
topics  of  public  concern.  No  such  perfect  collection, 
of  course,  can  ever  be  made.  But  those  who  were 
admitted  to  the  high  privilege  of  his  intimate  and  con 
fidential  society,  owe  to  the  world  some  reminiscences 
of  this  great  man,  of  whom  the  world  can  never  know 
too  much.  For  it  is  only  thus  that  coming  generations 
can  receive  that  degree  of  instruction  and  advantage 
to  which  they  have  a  claim,  from  Him  who,  in  so 
emphatic  a  sense, 


But  for  all  Time.' 


•was  not  for  an  Age, 


* 

THE   N.  Y.  DAILY   TIMES  "LEADER"  ON 
THE  DEATH  OF  MR.  WEBSTER. 


THE  event,  which  the  whole  country  has,  for  a  few 
days,  been  anticipating  with  the  deepest  sorrow,  has 
at  length  occurred.  Daniel  Webster  is  no  longer  of 
the  living.  He  has  passed  from  the  scene  of  his  vast 
labors  and  his  glorious  triumphs,  to  join  the  great  of 
all  ages  in  the  spirit-land.  But  he  has  left  a  nation 
of  mourners.  His  family,  his  relatives,  the  extended 
circle  of  his  ardent  personal  friends,  have  no  monopoly 
of  grief — but  every  American  in  whose  breast  beats 
an  American  heart  partakes  the  general  sorrow.  No 
man  could  have  departed  from  us  who  would  have 
left  so  large  a  void — whose  place  could  not  have  been 
more  easily  supplied.  No  name  of  the  present  day 
is  so  intimately  interwrought  into  the  very  web  and 
woof  of  our  country's  history — none,  surely,  to  which 
an  American  may  point  with  a  more  heartfelt  and 
glowing  pride.  The  mourning  which  spreads  over 
the  land  will  know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no 
West.  It  will  not  be  confined  by  narrow  limits  ; — 
State  lines  cannot  bound  it — decrees  of  latitude  or 


136  MEMORIALS    OF 


longitude  will  not  check  its  flowing;  but  over  the 
broad  bosom  of  this  great  Continent,  from  ocean  to 
ocean — nay,  wherever  on  the  ocean  float  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  there  will  well  up  from  noble  hearts  the 
profoundest  lamentation  for  the  inestimable  loss  our 
country  has  sustained.  Party  animosities  slink  into 
their  burrow — political  rivalries  and  jealousies  are 
overshadowed  by  the  great  bereavement,  and  hide 
away.  The  weapons  of  party  warfare  fall  harmless 
to  the  ground,  and  contending  parties  and  rival  sec 
tions  give  token  of  humanity,  and  swell  the  tide  and 
volume  of  the  common  grief. 

It  seems,  indeed,  a  pity  that  such  large  experience, 
such  commanding  powers,  gathered  and  strengthened 
amid  the  troublous  contests,  trials  and  vicissitudes  of 
the  world,  could  not  have  been  longer  vouchsafed  to 
us,  a  conspicuous  light  and  guide  to  the  present  and 
coming  generations  of  men.  But  no  endowments  of 
heaven  can  guarantee  an  earthly  existence  beyond  the 
usual  limits  of  life ;  nor,  however  much  mankind 
might  gain,  would  it  be  just  to  the  individual,  to 
withhold  him  from  that  higher  sphere  that  beckons 
and  awaits  him.  But  Webster's  bright  example  and 
recorded  wisdom  remain.  As  he  passed  over  the  disc 
of  this  life,  he  has  enacted  his  part  on  so  conspicuous 
a  field,  that  all  have  been  able  to  profit  by  his  career ; 
and  his  majestic  orations  yet  resound  in  every  ear. 
It  is  fortunate,  indeed,  that  his  forensic  reputation 
will  not  depend,  as  that  of  many  great  orators  has 
done,  merely  on  tradition.  It  will  not  die  out  of  the 
memory  of  any  succeeding  generation.  His  own 
great  thoughts,  in  his  own  harmonious  and  stirring 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  13*7 


language,  are  stamped  upon  the  living  page,   "  and 
there  they  will  remain  for  ever." 

That  Mr.  Webster  should  at  this  time  have  sur 
rendered  his  life,  cannot  be  surprising,  even  to  those 
who  know  how  much  of  iron  entered  into  his  consti 
tution,  when  they  reflect  upon  the  extraordinary  la 
bors  he  has  performed.  What  frame  but  his  that 
would  not  have  broken  down  under  merely  the  pro 
fessional  duties  that  have  been  cast  upon  him  ?  For 
nearly  half  a  century,  he  has  been  sought  out,  not 
only  in  his  own,  but  in  other  countries  and  States,  to 
sustain  the  chief  weight  and  responsibility  of  the  most 
important  litigations.  If  mighty  interests  were 'at 
stake,  or  new  and  interesting  questions  involved,  or 
if  causes  depended  upon  constitutional  construction, 
the  services  were  invoked  of  this  Goliath  of  the  North. 
When  we  remember  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  of 
the  causes  in  which  he  has  been  employed, — the  Astor 
cases  in  this  city — the  Dartmouth  College  case — the 
famous  steamboat  case  between  New  Jersey  and  New 
York,  of  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden — the  Cnownifigshields 
— the  New-York  Fire  cases — the  Girard  will — tho 
recent  India  Rubber  case — when  we  turn  over  tho 
decisions  of  the  Federal  Courts  of  the  Union,  and 
see  how  numerous  and  important  are  the  questions 
upon  which  he  has  been  professionally  called  to  shed 
the  light  of  his  mind— rwhen  we  think  how  many  hun 
dreds  of  nisi  prius  causes  he  has  tried,  reports  of 
which  have  never  been  embalmed  in  type- — remember* 
ing  too,  that  in  all  of  these  cases  it  has  been  his  lot 
to  try  his  strength  vrith  the  ablest  end  most  distin 
guished  lawyers  of  the  Union,  with  men  whose  powera 


138  MEMORIALS    OF 


might  well  arouse  the  highest  effort  of  transcend 
ent  genius — with  Jeremiah  Mason,  Samuel  Dexter 
and  Joseph  Story,  with  Pinckney,  Emmett,  Wirt, 
and  with  the  most  brilliant  advocates  of  the  present 
day,  it  may  well  awaken  surprise  that,  under  the 
pressure  of  such  legal  labors,  he  should  have  stood 
up  so  stoutly  and  so  long.  But  when  we  accumulate 
the  other  achievements  of  his  life — his  miscellaneous 
studies — his  laborious  researches  into  almost  every 
department  of  knowledge — his  agricultural  supervi 
sion  and  care — his  varied,  continuous  and  volumin 
ous  correspondence — his  magnificent  addresses  upon 
literary  and  patriotic  topics  and  occasions — his  social 
duties  though  pleasing,  yet  rendered  numerous  and 
exhausting  by  his  high  distinction — his  long  con 
tinued  and  prodigious  legislative  labors  in  the  councils 
of  the  Union,  partaking  in  the  discussions  of  the 
many  exciting  questions  that  have  arrested  or  shaken 
the  country — his  task  so  successfully  performed  as 
the  head  of  the  State  Department — and  the  wear  and 
tear  of  the  constant  excogitation  of  his  stupendous 
intellect,  we  are  impressed  with  astonishment,  not 
only  at  the  mind  that  could  accomplish  such  gigantic 
labors,  but  at  the  corporeal  frame,  which,  for  seventy 
years,  could  sustain  the  working  of  such  huge  en 
ginery.  Surely  it  was  not  of  common  materials,  as 
it  was  not  of  common  mould.  It  had  the  elements 
of  rare  endurance,  and  unwonted  power.  But,  at 
last,  exhausted,  it  has  released  its  hold  upon  the 
great  Soul  that  has  so  long  inhabited  and  informed  it. 
And  yet,  up  to  a  very  recent  period,  we  could  not 
speak  of  him  as  having  grown  old  in  his  labors,  for 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  139 


years  left  no  enervating  mark  upon  him,  but  only 
seemed  to  lay  an  accumulating  wealth  of  dignity  and 
majesty  upon  that  historic  head. 

In  the  short  period  of  our  national  existence, 
our  country  has  been  wonderfully  fruitful  of  great 
men.  The  stirring  period  of  her  revolutionary  his 
tory  was  calculated  to  bring  out  and  excite  to  utmost 
tension,  whatever  of  talent,  power,  and  genius  then 
existed  amongst  her  sons.  The  succeeding  stage  of 
her  career  was  scarcely  less  adapted  to  call  into  re 
quisition  the  utmost  efforts  of  her  children,  in  the 
necessity  the  time  imposed,  of-  reducing  chaos  into 
order,  and  organizing,  launching,  and  boldly  carrying 
forward  this  new  government ;  and  intellectual  capa 
bilities  could  not  lie  idle,  when  such  tempting  fields 
of  conquest  stretched  within  the  view  of  laudable 
ambition.  And  yet  the  eye  may  glance  along  the 
starry  names  that  hang  in  the  clear  sky  of  our  na 
tional  history,  and  it  will  find  none  of  greater  mag 
nitude  or  brighter  ray  than  that  which  has  just 
ascended  to  tako  its  merited  position  in  the  constel 
lated  dome. 

In  real  intellectual  strength  it  is  probable  that 
"Webster  rarely  had  his  equal  since  the  morning  of 
time.  Certainly,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  no  man 
known  to  us,  in  any  of  the  nations,  evinced  a  like 
capacity.  Strength,  mental  sinew,  was  his  crowning 
characteristic.  The  resistless  power  with  which  he 
trod  the  field  of  contest  betokened  inevitable  overthrow 
to  those  who  dared  oppose  him.  When  the  chosen 
champion  of  the  South,  amidst  the  exultations  of  his 
friends,  endeavored  to  bind  and  fetter  the  arms  of 


140  MEMORIALS    OF 


Webster  with  the  tough  cords  that  had  been  so  long 
fabricating  and  seasoning,  the  giant  sat  in  calm  repose 
till  his  enemies  rejoiced  in  the  anticipated  accom 
plishment  of  their  object ;  then,  slowly  rising,  as  if 
sustaining  the  drooping  hopes  of  the  country,  with 
the  light  of  conscious  superiority  beaming  from  his 
eye,  he  tore  asunder  the  strands  that  bound  him  like 
wisps  of  straw,  and  applying  his  stalwart  shoulders  to 
the  temple  his  adversaries  had  reared,  whelmed  the 
structure  and  architects  in  one  common  and  undis- 
tinguishable  ruin.  No  intellectual  contest  in  this 
country  had  ever  excited  similar  hopes  and  fears. 
The  whole  people  had  started  to  their  feet  at  the 
eloquent  and  audacious  assault  that  Col.  Hayne  had 
made  upon  him.  Great  and  commanding  as  all  knew 
his  powers  to  be  ;  confident  as  was  the  reliance  of 
his  friends  in  the  exhaustless  fertility  of  his  genius, 
yet  every  one  but  himself  felt  the  tremor  of  fear  that 
there  was  a  possibility  of  failure,  and  that,  in  that 
time  of  awful  responsibility,  the  lustre  of  his  name 
might  dim  and  die  before  the  darting  splendor  of  the 
Southern  star.  But,  from  the  first  moment  that  his 
clarion  note  resounded  in  the  Senate,  hope  changed 
to  confidence  ;  then  peal  on  peal  of  withering  sarcasm 
broke  over  the  heads  of  his  affrighted  foes ;  he  brushed 
their  cobweb  arguments  from  sight,  planted  the  pa 
triotism  of  the  old  Bay  State  on  an  immortal  emi 
nence,  and  closed  with  a  strain  of  deep  and  magni 
ficent  eloquence  upon  the  blessings,  the  necessity, 
and  the  glory  of  the  Union  that  has  no  parallel  in 
the  records  of  speech.  What  were  his  sensations 
during  the  delivery  of  this  splendid  oration  he  has 


DANIEL   WEBSTER.  141 


himself  narrated,  in  answer  to  a  friend.  "  I  felt," 
said  he,  "  as  if  everything  I  had  ever  seen,  or  read, 
or  heard,  was  floating  before  me  in  one  grand  pano 
rama,  and  I  had  little  else  to  do  than  to  reach  up 
and  cull  a  thunderbolt,  and  hurl  it  at  him  !  " 

In  referring  to  a  professional  argument  made  by 
him  only  five  or  six  months  since,  we  said  of  him, 
and  now  repeat,  that  thirty  years  ago,  when  Webster 
was  in  the  freshness  of  his  ambition,  and  the  prime 
of  his  physical  life,  he  must  have  been  the  most  con 
vincing,  resistless,  terrific  advocate  that  ever  stood 
before  a  jury.  So  many  forces  mingled  in  him — such 
a  substratum  of  common  sense,  the  great  primitive 
rock  that  supports  all  else — such  comprehensiveness 
and  sweep  of  glance — such  imagination  when  he  chose 
to  permit  its  intrusion  amidst  his  sterner  thoughts — 
such  diction,  every  word  a  sledge-hammer — such  ca 
pacity  for  stripping  off  all  disguises  in  which  inge 
nuity  may  have  dressed  its  sophistries: — such  advan 
tages  of  person,  of  presence,  manner,  eye  and  voice 
were  perhaps  never  united  in  equal  proportions  in 
any  individual  before.  The  arguments  of  his  oppo- 
.nents  were  brittle  in  his  hands.  What  Gordian  knots 
he  could  not  wait  to  untie  he  rent  in  twain.  Before 
•  this  tribunal — a  jury — to  our  mind,  unquestionably, 
though  this  may  not  accord  with  the  general  view, 
Webster  stood  in  the  position,  of  all  others,  best 
adapted  to  display  his  resources  and  his  strength. 
Some  suppose  that  the  Senate  furnished  the  brightest 
scene  for  his  intellectual  gladiatorship.  Many  think, 
from  the  logical  character  of  his  mind,  that  severe 
and  close  ratiocination  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 


142  MEMORIALS    OF 


the  United  States  was  the  element  in  which  he  found 
himself  most  at  home.  And  some  imagine,  that  on 
great  occasions  of  public  interest  and  before  popular 
assemblies,  where  he  might  escape  from  the  unyield 
ing  bands  of  logic,  and  follow  his  inclination  amid 
chosen  topics,  and  indulge  the  lead  of  his  powerful 
imagination,  he  rose  above  the  standard  of  his  usual 
accomplishment.  But,  in  our  judgment,  there  never 
was  a  place  where  he  has  been  so  thoroughly  aroused, 
where  he  has  come  so  near  his  possibility  of  effort,  as 
when,  standing  before  twelve  jurors,  in  an  individual 
case,  that  touched  his  sympathies,  and  fired  by  the 
immediate  antagonism  of  able  adversaries,  he  has  put 
forth  his  energies  to  defend  some  hunted  right,  or 
pursue  some  grievous  wrong. 

A  prominent  feature  in  Mr.  Webster's  argumen 
tation  was  the  extraordinary  clearness,  skill  and  com 
pactness  of  his  statement.  His  formal  statement  of 
a  case  was  itself  a  demonstration.  A  few  simple 
sentences  seemed  to  raise  the  question  above  the 
realm  of  doubt,  and  place  it  beyond  assault ;  and 
his  subsequent  arguments  hedged  it  around  with  im 
pregnable  defences. 

Another  admirable  quality  was  his  rare  power  of 
condensation.  While  other  men  sought  to  expand, 
he  labored  to  condense.  The  material  he  used  was 
not  beaten  into  leaf,  but  crowded  into  bars  and  ingots. 
A  graphic  sentence  oft  contained  the  whole  question 
and  its  solution.  He  aimed  no  scattering  fowling- 
piece,  that  threw  its  innocent  shot  around  the  subject 
to  be  hit,  but  planted  his  rifle  bullet  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  target. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  143 


No  man  could  hear  or  read  the  speeches  of  Web 
ster  without  being  struck  with  the  rich  philosophy 
that  was  continually  enfolding  his  subject.  Themes 
that  other  men  looked  up  to  gaze  at,  he  stooped  to 
touch  ;  and  when  he  touched  them,  lifted  them  into 
the  sphere  he  occupied,  enveloped  them  with  the  af 
fluence  of  his  own  intellect,  invested  them  with  clas 
sical  allusion  and  golden  suggestion,  gave  them  greater 
dignity  and  higher  views,  and  linked  them  to  broader 
associations. 

Mr.  "Webster's  person  wore  the  significance  of  his 
grandeur :  it  was  a  tenement  worthy  of  the  tenant. 
His  ample  proportions,  brawny  but  graceful ;  his  im 
posing  form,  his  dignified  manner,  his  imperial  port, 
his  solemn  gaze,  his  majestic  and  towering  head — 
the  vision  and  faculty  divine  that  looked  out  of  those 
comprehensive,  spiritual  orbs,  the  intellectuality  that 
sat  enthroned  upon  his  massive  brow,  impressed  the 
beholder  with  unwonted  awe.  Most  great  men  fall 
so  far  short  of  the  ideal  that  is  formed  of  them,  that 
they  dwindle  and  dwarf  upon  approach.  Distance 
of  time  or  space  lends  its  enchantment  to  the  view, 
and  through  its  magnifying  mists  those  gods  of  our 
idolatry  loom  up  into  Titanic  stature.  But  to  this 
rule  Mr.  Webster  was  an  exception,  almost  the  sole 
exception.  We  doubt,  if  ever  the  man  came  into  his 
presence,  who  did  not  leave  with  enhanced  concep 
tions  of  his  native  majesty  and  power.  Nature  had 
set  her  seal  of  greatness  upon  him,  and  the  common 
voice  of  his  countrymen,  in  calling  him  the  "  godlike," 
testified  that  that  seal  was  not  illegible  to  them. 

He  found  the  solace  of  his  pastime  hours,  in  the 


144  MEMORIALS    OF 


resonant  voices  of  the  waves  that  ocean  dashed  along 
the  beach  which  margined  his  country  home — in  su 
perintending  agricultural  uses — in  walking,  driving, 
fishing,  and  in  the  genial  converse  of  family  and 
troops  of  friends.  He  rose  at  the  hour  of  three  or 
four,  and,  in  study  and  labor  awaited  the  announce 
ment  of  auroral  dawn.  The  quiet  and  beautiful 
morning  hours  imparted  to  him  strength  and  know 
ledge,  and  garlanded  with  freshness  his  momentous 
life. 

Mr.  Webster  must  have  left  materials  for  "bio 
graphy  of  uncommon  extent  and  opulence.  The  six 
volumes  of  his  speeches  which  have  just  appeared, 
may  be  immeasurably  extended.  His  manuscripts 
must  disclose  a  vast  variety  and  range  of  interesting 
composition.  His  diaries  and  correspondence  would 
be  seized  by  the  public  with  avidity,  while  his  con 
versations,  and  the  countless  anecdotes  concerning 
him,  that  rest  in  the  memories  of  individuals,  would 
give  intense  zest  to  his  biography.  We  should  hope 
that  every  one  who  had  any  anecdote  or  interesting 
conversation  of  his  to  relate — and  who  has  not,  that 
has  ever  spent  a  half  hour  in  his  presence — would 
commit  the  same  to  permanent  form,  and  transmit  it 
to  some  common  destination,  where  it  might  await 
the  pen  of  the  biographer.  His  speeches  have  done 
much  to  educate  the  present  generation  of  active 
men.  In  country  schools,  academies,  and  colleges, 
his  sonorous  sentences  have  formed  the  staple  of  de 
clamation.  He  has  thus  poured  his  lofty  sentiments 
into  the  minds  of  our  youth,  and  every  educated  man 
of  the  country  must  this  day  feel  that  he  is  under 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  145 


obligations  lie  can  never  repay,  to  the  inspirations  of 
Daniel  Webster.  Let  us  now  have  his  life,  and  all 
the  productions  of  his  pen,  and  such  of  the  utter 
ances  of  his  tongue  as  may  be  caught  and  gathered, 
that  they  may  all  float  down  the  stream  of  time,  a 
blessing  and  delight  to  all  ages — co-existent  with 
literature  and  liberty.  Such  names  and  such  pro 
ductions  make  the  garniture  of  history. 

In  the  sadness  of  this  occasion,  how  naturally,  yet 
how  sorrowfully,  does  the  mind  turn  towards  that 
splendid  triumvirate  of  statesmen. — Clay,  Calhoun, 
and  Webster,  but  recently  the  pride  and  glory  of  the 
land,  now  enacting  another  stage  of  their  destiny  in 
the  world  beyond  the  stars.  For  forty  years  they 
had  mingled  their  efforts  and  voices  in  the  councils 
of  the  Union.  Upon  all  great  questions  of  public 
policy,  each  has  left  his  indelible  mark.  Each,  as 
we  have  stated  heretofore,  in  himself  a  host — with 
physical  and  intellectual  powers  so  different,  yet  so 
surpassing — though  not  always  agreeing,  indeed, 
sometimes  at  angry  variance — a  war  among  the  gods 
— yet  always  inseparably  associated — marching  side 
by  side  through  many  years  of  pith  and  moment  in 
the  history  of  America  and  the  world — pre-eminent  in 
powers  of  thought,  and  in  the  mode  of  expressing 
thought ;  we  see  them  now,  with  the  eye  of  memory, 
in  that  more  than  Amphictyonic  assemblage — Clay, 
with  his  electric  fire  and  burning  and  impassioned 
eloquence — Calhoun,  clear,  terse,  logical,  metaphy 
sical,  with  the  skill  of  Tell,  shooting  an  apple  from 
the  head, — and  Webster,  calm,  grand,  majestic,  sit 
ting  on  the  loftiest  peaks  of  Olympus,  darting  light- 
t 


146  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

nings,  and  rolling  thunders.  But  now,  alas !  those 
eloquent  voices  are  hushed  ;  those  great  hearts  have 
ceased  their  beating ;  their  continuous  guidance  has 
been  withdrawn  from  us ; — and  the  American  people, 
in  sorrow  and  orphanage,  lament  their  loss. 


MEMORIALS  OF  MR.  WEBSTER, 

IN   A   SERIES   OF    LETTEES    FEOM    ELMS   FAEM 
AND    MAESHFIELD. 


A  TEIP  TO  NEW-IIAMPSHIRE DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  FARM  ON  THE 

MERRIMACK. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  IL,  October— ,1849. 
I  asked  a  physician  where  a  dyspeptic 
person,  suffering  from  want  of  exercise,  and  liable  to 
an  attack  from  the  prevailing  epidemic,  could  go  to 
eradicate  the  one  and  evade  the  other  ?  He  answer 
ed,  "  Among  the  granite  hills  of  New  Hampshire." 
The  cholera  was  then  raging  in  New- York. 

On  the  same  day,  at  6  o'clock,  p.  M.,  I  was  on 
board  that  paragon  of  steamboats,  the  Empire  State, 
commanded  by  the  gallant  Capt.  Joseph  Comstock, 
bound  for  Fall  River.  The  next  day  at  an  early 
hour,  having  passed  through  Boston,  Lowell,  and 

*  A  portion  of  the  following  letters  were  published  at  about 
the  period  they  were  written,— those  from  Marshfield  in  the  Com 
mercial  Advertiser,  and  several  of  the  others  in  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer.  They  have  all  been  carefully  revised,  however,  and 
since  Mr.  "Webster's  death  have  been  reproduced  in  the  columns 
of  the  Daily  Times,  from  which  they  are  now  printed. 


148  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

other  towns,  with  the  speed  of  steamboat,  I  found 
myself  here,  stepping  out  of  the  car  with  my  port 
manteau,  hunting  apparatus  and  fishing-tackle,  at  a 
dingy  looking  depot  building,  on  the  front  of  which 
was  inscribed,  in  large  letters,  "  Webster  Place." 

A  gentleman  of  venerable  age  and  respectable 
appearance  standing  by,  perceiving  that  I  was  a 
stranger  addressed  me  in  the  most  courteous  manner. 
No  tavern  being  near  he  politely  tendered  to  me,  and 
I  accepted,  the  hospitalities  of  his  house.  He  is  the 
friend,  and  was  one  of  the  playmates  and  school 
fellows  of  Mr.  Webster.  With  a  mind  rich  in  re 
miniscences,  and  unimpaired  by  age,  he  was  as  in 
structive  and  entertaining  as  any  man  I  have  met  in 
many  a  day.  He  goes  back  to  his  childhood,  and 
talks  of  events  happening  then  as  if  it  were  but 
yesterday.  He  talks  about  the  Defender  of  the 
Constitution,  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  he  has 
made  me  quite  familiar  with  that  interesting  period 
of  his  life,  of  which,  by- the -by,  the  world  has  hitherto 
known  comparatively  nothing.  I  shall  during  my 
sojourn  here,  recount  to  you  some  portions  of  the 
conversation  of  this  venerable  man  and  his  old 
neighbours,  who  sit  together  in  the  cool  shades  of 
these  majestic  elms,  on  pleasant  afternoons,  and  live 
over  again  the  scenes  of  their  youth. 

Webster  Place  is  at  Elms  Farm,  owned  by  Daniel 
Webster,  in  the  town  of  Franklin,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Merrimack,  the  home  of  his  late  father  Colonel 
Ebenezer  Webster.  From  filial  affection  Mr.  Web 
ster  retains  and  cultivates  this  homestead,  and  doubt 
less  will  do  so  through  life.  I  had  no  conception 


149 

that  there  could  be  found  among  these  rugged  hills, 
so  far  up  this  river,  a  spot  so  inviting,  so  enchanting. 
It  is  no  wonder  he  loves  to  come  here. 

Taking  it  for  granted  that  you,  in  common  with 
the  millions  of  intelligent  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  are  interested  in  knowing  whatever  pertains 
to  this  great  man — unquestionably  the  greatest  man 
of  his  time,  and  justly  the  object  of  his  country's 
pride — I  will  give  you  a  brief  description  of  his 
farming  lands,  of  this  farm,  its  location,  and  some  of 
the  legends  which  render  it,  and  ever  will,  a  place  of 
interest. 

The  whole  extent  of  his  farming  lands  in  this 
vicinity  is  not  less  than  nine  hundred  acres,  which 
though  composed  of  several  tracts,  do  not  lie  con 
tiguous  to  each  other.  I  have  rambled  over  them  to 
day.  About  360  acres  lie  on  the  western  hills  bor 
dering  this  valley,  which  are  seeded  for  pastures,  and 
upon  it  his  flocks  and  herds  feed  during  the  summer. 
Limpid  streams  meander  through  it,  and  refreshing 
springs  bubble  up  from  the  cool  recesses  of  the  earth 
to  slake  the  thirst  of  both  man  and  beast. 

Beautiful  trees — oak,  walnut,  maple,  pine,  &c. — 
are  scattered  profusely  over  the  surface,  affording 
shade  and  shelter,  and  at  the  same  time,  giving  it 
the  appearance  of  a  vast  and  highly  ornamented  park. 
I  rode  through  it  in  different  directions,  and  saw 
nearly  one  hundred  head  of  his  thriving  cattle,  some 
of  them  thorough-bred,  all  good,  and  all  apparently 
as  fat  as  seals.  On  these  hills  the  sweetest  kind  of 
grass  grows  spontaneously.  On  the  western  verge 
of  this  tract  of  land  there  is  a  swelling  mount,  the 


150  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

apex  of  which  is  known  as  "  Pisgah's  top."  AVith  a 
telescope  in  my  hand  I  ascended  it,  and  had  a  view 
of  the  surrounding  country,  well  worth  all  the  journey 
hither. 

This  elevated  point,  which  Mr.  Webster  owns  as 
a  part  of  his  farm  and  values  highly,  he  visits  annu 
ally,  and  thence  re-surveys  the  scenes  of  his  childhood 
and  youth ;  all  of  which  are  spread  out  to  his  view 
like  a  map  at  his  feet — the  streams  in  which  he  an 
gled  for  trout ;  the  glens  and  the  hills  where,  in  his 
boyhood,  gun  in  hand,  he  chased  his  game,  and  the 
fields  he  tilled  with  his  own  hands,  are  often  revisited, 
so  that  every  incident  in  that  bye-gone  time,  is  kept 
as  fresh  in  his  memory  as  if  it  had  happened  but 
yesterday. 

The  view  is  magnificent.  The  Kearsage  Moun 
tain,  in  the  County  of  Merrimack,  which  rises  2,461 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  summit  of 
which  is  now  a  bare  mass  of  granite,  but  whose  sides 
are  covered  with  wood,  stands  out  in  bold  relief. 
There  stood  its  constant  neighbor,  Ragged  Moun 
tain,  so  aptly  named  from  its  rough  appearance,  ris 
ing  2,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  There 
stand  the  Mink  Hills,  and  close  by  is  the  famous 
Meeting-House  Hill.  Looking  beyond  Ragged  Moun 
tain,  I  saw  the  summit  of  Ascutney  Mountain  in  Ver 
mont,  which  rises  3,116  feet  above  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  3,320  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is 
solid  granite,  and  destitute  of  covering.  Travellers 
make  pilgrimages  to  its  summit  to  take  a  view  of  the 
surrounding  country.  Looking  in  a  northerly  direc 
tion,  I  had  a  good  view  of  the  tops  of  the  White 


151 

Mountains.  You  are  aware  that  the  summit  of  that 
range  of  crystal  hills,  as  they  were  named  by  Neal, 
Jocelyn  and  Field,  who  ascended  them  in  1632,  have 
since  been  named  Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Monroe,  Franklin  and  Lafayette.  Their 
snow-white  summits  are  seen  from  "  Pisgah's  top," 
nearly  sixty  miles  distant,  and  their  appearance  is 
that  of  a  silvery  cloud  skirting  the  horizon.  Mount 
Washington  rises  6,234  feet  above  the  sea.  This  is 
known  from  its  being  the  highest  and  most  southern. 
Mount  Adams  is  next  in  height,  and  Mount  Jefferson 
is  situated  between  these  two.  They  are  the  highest 
and  most  celebrated  in  New  England. 

There,  too,  in  a  more  easterly  direction,  is  a  fine 
view  of  the  Ossipee  Mountain,  and  of  its  neighbors, 
the  Gunstock  Hills. 

He  has  a  small  farm  on  which  he  sometimes  pas 
tures  sheep,  situated  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
which  embraces  about  one  hundred  acres. 

The  sheep  and  cattle  which  feed  on  these  two  up 
land  farms  in  the  summer,  are,  in  the  winter,  driven 
to  the  homestead  on  the  flats,  and  sometimes  to  Marsh- 
field  where  they  are  foddered  during  the  winter. 

But  the  valuable  land,  that  which  affords  him  the 
chief  inducement  to  own  any  land  in  this  part  of  New 
England,  is  the  farm  which  was  his  father's,  and  with 
which  are  associated  his  earliest,  and  perhaps  fondest 
recollections. 

It  comprises  about  four  hundred  acres.  About 
one  half  of  it  is  rich  bottom  land,  very  level,  hand 
somely  laid  out,  and  apparently  under  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation;  the  other  half  is  rolling  land, 


152  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

rising  from  the  western  boundary  of  the  flats,  up  the 
gradual  ascent  of  the  higher  lands,  and  is  thickly 
wooded  with  the  most  desirable  and  thriving  trees. 

The  facility  with  which  timber  can  be  taken  to 
market,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  forests  have 
disappeared,  render  these  woodlands  very  valuable 
— perhaps  the  most  valuable  of  any  lands  in  this 
ralley. 

It  is  also  a  great  pleasure  to  see  that  the  farm 
houses,  the  barns,  the  sheds,  and  the  fences,  are  all 
as  white  as  paint  can  make  them,  and  every  object  in 
view  indicates  the  good  husbandry  of  the  farmer  who 
has  them  in  charge. 

The  Northern  Railway  passes  through  it  near  the 
Mansion  House,  and  several  trains  of  cars,  freighted 
with  passengers  and  the  products  of  the  country,  with 
merchandise  for  the  people,  pass  over  it  daily,  almost 
annihilating  time  and  space,  giving  all  the  advan 
tages  of  a  near  approximation  to  Boston.  Scattered 
over  the  surface  stands  a  large  number  of  aged,  ma 
jestic  and  beautiful  elms,  which  enrich  the  picture 
beyond  the  power  of  my  pen  to  describe.  Hence  the 
name  "  Elms  Farm,"  by  which  it  is  known  from  Bos 
ton  to  Canada.  No  passing  traveller  fails  to  admire 
its  richness  and  its  neatness. 

On  the  southern  boundary  of  this  farm  stands 
one  of  the  most  commanding  of  the  elms,  and  marks 
the  spot  where  stood  an  old  fort,  in  the  time  of  the 
Indian  wars ;  and  which,  for  many  years,  afforded 
partial  protection  to  the  frontier  settlements.  Tradi 
tion  startles  the  ear  with  the  bloody  scenes  and  sa 
vage  massacres  in  the  days  of  that  old  fortification. 


WEBSTER'S  FARM  ON  THE  MERRIMACK.        153 

Capt.  John  Taylor,  who  has  been  with  Mr.  Web 
ster  nearly  twenty  years,  who  tills  this  soil,  and  so 
"jocundly  drives  his  team  a-field"  every  morning, 
without  any  danger  to  his  personal  safety,  little 
dreams  of  the  perils  and  sufferings  of  his  predecessors 
in  these  identical  fields. 

They  went  forth  to  plant  or  reap,  carrying  with 
them  not  only  their  hoes  and  sickles,  but  loaded 
guns,  cartridges,  and  other  weapons,  to  defend  their 
lives  when  attacked,  some  standing  sentry  to  watch 
the  stealthy  approach  of  the  murderous  Indian,  while 
the  others  cultivated  the  land  or  gathered  in  the  har 
vests.  How  different  the  state  of  things  now  ! 

The  legends  of  this  beautiful  spot  of  earth  would 
fill  a  volume  of  realities  "  more  romantic  than  romance 
itself." 

On  the  old  turnpike  road,  under  the  aged  elms 
whose  branches  reach  across  the  highway,  affording 
perpetual  shade,  stand  the  two  old  dwelling-houses 
in  which  Colonel  Ebenezer  Webster,  the  father  of 
Daniel,  in  his  lifetime  lived.  One  is  more  than  one 
hundred  years  old,  and  the  other  more  than  sixty. 
In  the  latter  he  closed  his  career.  No  man  was  more 
respected  for  his  many  virtues. 

From  where  I  sit,  is  two  miles  and  a  half  to  the 
head  of  the  Merrimack  river,  which  is  there  formed 
by  the  confluence  of  two  beautiful  streams,  but  re 
joicing  in  harsh  Indian  names,  viz. :  1st,  The  Pemige- 
wasset ;  which  rises  in  the  White  Hills,  pours  down 
their  southern  slopes  and  declivities,  dashing  over 
many  cascades,  and  collecting  the  tribute  of  various 
smaller  rivers  and  brooks  in  its  course.  It  is  tho 
7* 


154  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER, 

beau  ideal  of  a  mountain  stream,  cold,  noisy,  wind 
ing,  and  with  banks  of  much  picturesque  beauty. 
2d,  The  Winnipiscogce ;  this  river  issues  from  tho 
great  Lake  of  that  name,  which  lies  about  N.  E, 
from  this  spot.  This  lake  is  near  twenty  miles  long, 
with  various  arms  and  bays  like  a  sea.  Its  shores 
are  mountainous  and  strikingly  beautiful ;  especially 
on  the  north  and  east.  The  last  Royal  Governor, 
John  Wentworth,  had  his  country-house  on  the  eastern 
side  of  this  lake.  This  sheet  of  water  is  hardly  more 
than  20  or  25  miles  from  the  tide  waters  which  conio 
up  to  Dover  and  Berwick.  Nevertheless,  it  dis 
charges  its  waters  westerly,  and  they  reach  the  sea 
through  the  Merriraack,  at  Newburyport,  having 
made  a  circuit  of  about  100  miles. 

At  this  place  the  width  of  the  river  is  about  fifty 
rods ;  but  a  few  miles  below,  it  receives  several  tri 
butary  streams  which  greatly  increase  its  width,  and 
render  it  a  river  of  considerable  magnitude.  At  its 
mouth  it  is  half  a  mile  wide.  On  its  borders  are 
situated  some  of  the  most  nourishing  towns  in  all  New 
England. 

The  surface  of  the  lake  of  which  I  spoke,  is,  I 
think,  240  feet  above  tide  water.  The  river  issuing 
from  it,  and  running  to  its  junction  with  the  Pemi* 
gewasset,  a  distance  of  about  15  or  18  miles,  makes  a 
fall  of  100  feet,  by  several  successive  cascades,  afford 
ing  all  of  them,  excellent  mill  power.  The  water 
of  this  river  is  several  degrees  warmer,  generally, 
than  that  of  the  Pemigewttnet ;  the  difference  being 
that  between  a  mountain  stream,  and  a  stream  issuing 
from  large  and  deep  lakes. 


155 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  or  rather  tradition  of  a  fact, 
related  to  me  by  Mr.  Webster  himself,  who  knows 
the  habits  of  fishes,  that  when  the  Merrimack  river 
was  full  of  fish,  on  their  arrival  at  the  confluence  of 
these  two  streams,  the  salmon  and  shad  shook  hands 
and  parted ;  the  shad  all  going  into  the  lakes,  the 
salmon  all  keeping  up  the  mountain  torrent,  which 
they  continued  to  ascend,  as  used  to  be  said,  till  their 
back  fins  were  out  of  water.  This  is  still  the  case 
with  the  few  which  annually  find  their  way  over  the 
dams  and  other  obstructions  to  the  fountains. 

I  have  said,  these  two  streams  unite  two-and-a- 
half  miles  above  where  I  now  am.  The  place  was 
formerly  called  "  Webster's  Falls?  but  is  now  the 
site  of  a  flourishing  manufacturing  village  called 
Franklin,  or  more  specifically,  Franklin  Upper  Vil 
lage.  Mr.  Webster  related  to  me  the  following  le 
gend  concerning  a  stream  in  which  he  has  caught 
many  a  fish  : — 

CaWs  Brook  glides  meandering  down  a  glen, 
and  runs  through  the  meadow  to  the  river.  It  took 
its  name  from  this  melancholy  tragedy.  On  the 
banks  of  the  stream,  at  the  foot  of  the  glen,  lived 
Philip  Call.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  His 
wife,  his  son  and  his  son's  wife  (the  latter  of  whom 
had  a  small  child),  constituted  his  family.  While 
the  Messrs.  Call  were  both  in  the  field,  and  the  elder 
and  younger  Mrs.  Call  were  in  the  house,  a  small 
party  of  Indians  came  suddenly  upon  them,  and  went 
in.  They  were  seen  to  enter  by  the  men  in  the  field, 
who  perceiving  them  unarmed,  and  cherishing  the 
hope  that  the  savages  would  do  no  harm  to  the 


156  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

women  and  child,  they  concealed  themselves  in  the 
field.  The  younger  Mrs.  Call,  seeing  the  savages 
entering  the  house,  seized  her  child  and  hid  herself 
behind  the  rude  chimney.  The  Indians  demanded 
milk  and  food,  which  the  elder  Mrs.  Call  gave  them. 
They  ate  till  they  could  eat  no  more.  All  this  time 
the  little  child,  who  was  naturally  a  noisy,  chattering 
thing,  remained  perfectly  silent  with  its  mother  ;  the 
least  sound  would  have  betrayed  both.  The  elder 
lady  doubtless  thought  that  by  giving  them  all  they 
demanded,  they  would  go  peaceably  away,  though  at 
that  time  a  high  price  was  paid  in  Canada  for  scalps ; 
but  she  was  fatally  mistaken  ;  for,  instead  of  grati 
tude.  Indian  hatred  was  uppermost,  and  those  barbar 
ous  savages  killed  her  on  the  spot  and  carried  off  her 
scalp,  -while  the  younger  woman  escaped  unhurt. 
Hence  the  stream  is  called  Call's  Brook.  The  child 
lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  Mr.  Webster  has  often  seen 
and  conversed  with  her.  He  also  told  me  another  of 
the  legends  concerning  this  farm. 

One  Peter  Bowen,  in  those  days,  lived  also  on 
this  farm.  He  was  a  high-tempered,  daring  man. 
and  was  often  with  the  Indians.  He  owed  two  of 
them  a  grudge.  It  so  happened  that  he  was  alone 
with  these  two  very  Indians,  coming  up  the  river. 
At  Call's  Brook  he  shot  one,  and  killed  the  other 
with  the  butt  of  his  gun  ;  he  carelessly  left  their 
bodies  partially  concealed  under  the  top  of  a  fallen 
tree.  The  Indians  were  missed.  Suspicion  fell  on 
Peter.  His  known  hostility,  his  high  temper,  were 
circumstances  against  him.  Besides,  Peter  remained 
in  his  house.  The  bodies  were  found.  Peter  fled. 


At  this  time  there  was  a  treaty  of  amity  between  the 
whites  and  the  Indians ;  and  the  Governor  at  Ports 
mouth  sent  an  ambassador  to  the  Indians  in  Canada, 
to  assure  them  that  Peter  should  be  caught  and 
hanged.  But  he  eluded  the  officers  for  a  month,  or 
more,  concealing  himself  in  the  woods.  At  length, 
he  was  caught  and  put  into  the  jail  at  Exeter.  At 
that  time,  opinion  was  strong  against  hanging  a  man 
for  killing  an  Indian,  and  a  party  of  his  friends  and 
neighbors,  disguised  as  Mohawk  Indians,  went  to  the 
jail,  tore  it  down,  and  released  the  prisoner. 

After  that,  he  was  undisturbed,  and  for  years  he 
lived  here,  tilling  this  land.  But  the  ghosts  of  the 
dead-  Indians  constantly  haunted  him.  He  often 
saw,  in  his  imagination,  other  Indians,  armed  to  take 
vengeance  on  him,  starting  up  from  behind  haycocks 
in  the  meadows,  and  lurking  about  his  house.  This 
frenzy  or  fear  grew  on  him,  and  turned  his  brain,  so 
that  he,  finally,  in  the  other  extreme,  went  into  Can 
ada  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  tribe  of  which  his 
victims  were  members,  and  there,  strange  to  relate, 
the  affair  was  amicably  settled.  His  offence  was  off 
set  against  some  other  offence,  and  he  thenceforth 
lived  to  a  great  age — the  ghosts  ceased  to  haunt  him, 
and  he  finally  died  in  their  midst,  as  one  of  the 
tribe. 

The  old  Turnpike,  which  was  lately  so  much 
crowded  with  teams,  leads  to  Concord,  fifteen  miles 
below  the  spot,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river.  To 
Concord,  as  you  know,  the  railroad  comes  from  Bos 
ton,  via  Lowell,  Nashua,  Manchester,  and  Hooksett. 
A  few  years  since,  when  the  anti-railroad  obstinacy 


158  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  the  dominant  political  party  in  the  State  was  over 
come,  or  broken  down,  a  charter  was  granted  for  a 
railroad  from  Concord,  through  Franklin,  to  Lebanon, 
on  the  Connecticut  River.  This  is  the  great  route 
from  Boston  to  Montreal,  though  it  has  competition 
in  a  more  Southern  route,  called,  I  think,  the  Massa 
chusetts  and  Vermont  Railroad.  This  route,  known 
as  the  JSTorthern  Railroad,  will  continue  to  be  pre 
ferred.  I  believe  it  is  as  near — while  Manchester, 
Nashua,  and  Lowell,  highly  important  manufacturing 
places,  are  in  the  line  of  this  route,  and  not  in  that 
of  the  other. 

From  Concord,  the  railroad  follows  the  river 
through  Boscawen,  passes  through  this  beautiful  bot 
tom  land,  where  I  now  am  (here  called  Intervail), 
goes  much  nearer  to  Mr.  Webster's  house,  I  dare  say, 
than  he  would  wish,  and  keeps  on  up  to  Frank 
lin  Upper  Village.  There  it  leaves  the  Merrimack, 
exactly  at  its  head,  and  turning  still  further  to  the 
west  than  the  line  or  valley  of  the  Pemigewasset,  it 
follows  up  a  little  stream,  called  Hancock  Brook,  to  a 
beautiful  lake  in  the  woods,  called  "  Como."  Ad 
joining  this  classical  sheet  of  water,  Mr.  Webster  has 
forty  acres  of  pine  land,  and  on  a  distinguished  point 
along  the  shore,  quite  conspicuous  for  a  great  dis 
tance,  stands  his  whitewashed  boat-house,  nine  feet 
by  eighteen.  To  use  Mr.  Webster's  own  words ; 
"  The  railroad  having  approached  the  lake,  and  done 
homage  to  this  little  edifice,  inclines  still  farther  to 
the  southwest,  and  twists  and  turns,  and  wriggles, 
and  climbs,  till  it  finally  struggles  over  the  height  of 
land  near  Cardigam  Mountains3  and  then  glides  down, 


WEBSTER'S  FARM  ON  THE  MERRIMACK.        159 

like  a  rippling  brook,  through  Shaker  Pond,  and  the 
Mascoma,  its  outlet,  to  Connecticut  River." 

The  house  in  which  Col.  Webster  lived  faces  due 
north.  The  front  windows  look  towards  the  river, 
But  then  the  river  soon  turns  to  the  sooith.  so  that 
the  eastern  windows  look  towards  the  river  also. 
But  the  river  has  so  deepened  its  channel,  in  this 
stretch  of  it,  in  the  last  fifty  years,  that  I  cannot  now 
see  its  water  without  approaching  it,  or  going  back 
to  the  higher  lands  behind  us.  The  history  of  this 
change  is  of  considerable  importance  in  the  philoso 
phy  of  streams.  Mr.  Webster,  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  who  has  allowed  me  to  take  it,  says,  he  has 
observed  it  practically,  and  knows  something  of  the 
theory  of  the  phenomenon ;  but  doubts  whether  the 
world  will  ever  be  benefited  either  by  his  learning 
or  his  observation  in  this  respect.  "  Looking  out  at 
the  east  windows,  with  a  beautiful  sun  just  breaking 
out."  says  the  letter,  "  my  eye  sweeps  along  a  level 
field  of  100  acres.  At  the  end  of  it,  a  third  of  a 
mile  off,  I  see  plain  marble  grave-stones,  designating 
the  places  where  repose  my  father  and  mother,  and 
brother,  and  sisters  Mahitable,  Abigail,  and  Sarah — 
good  Scripture  names,  inherited  from  their  Puritan 
ancestors. 

"  This  fair  field  is  before  me.  I  could  see  a  lamb 
on  any  part  of  it.  I  have  ploughed  it,  and  raked  it, 
but  I  never  mowed  it ;  somehow,  I  could  never  learn 
to  hang  a  scythe.  My  brother  Joseph  used  to  say 
that  my  father  sent  me  to  college  in  order  to  make 
me  e(|ual  to  the  rest  of  the  children." 

The  whip-poor-will  has   struck   up    her  all-night 


160  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

song,  and  I'll  to  my  couch  and  sleep  to  the  time  her 
music  keep. 

Yours,  truly. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER  S    FATHER. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  October,  1849. 

Colonel  Ebenezer  "Webster,  the  father  of  Daniel, 
was  born  at  Kingston,  in  Rockingham  County,  N.  H., 
in  the  year  1739.  His  father  was  among  the  original 
grantees  of  the  land  in  that  township  in  1692,  and 
settled  there  in  1700.  The  name  of  his  great  grand 
father  was  Ebenezer  ;  this  was  also  the  name  of  his 
grandfather,  his  own  father,  and  of  himself.  This 
name  he  also  gave  to  his  eldest  son,  and  the  name  is 
still  descending.  Col.  Webster  was  a  farmer,  born 
in  those  troublesome  times  when  Kingston  was  a 
frontier  settlement.  Savage  Indians  were  hovering 
about  his  childhood.  The  tomahawk  and  the  scalp- 
ing-knife  gleamed  in  the  sunshine  of  every  day,  and 
his  existence  depended  on  the  successful  resistance 
against  those  frightful  instruments  of  death  and  tor 
ture. 

At  an  early  age,  he  was  bound  as  an  apprentice 
to  one  Ebenezer  Stevens,  who,  of  course,  brought  him 
up.  In  the  article  of  apprenticeship,  Stevens  was 
bound  to  send  him  to  school  for  a  certain  length  of 
time  in  each  year,  an  obligation  which,  if  fulfilled, 
would  have  given  him  a  good  common  school  educa 
tion,  but  he  violated  his  covenant  in  that  respect,  and 
never  permitted  his  apprentice  to  see  the  inside  of  a 


WEBSTER'S  FATHER.  161 

school-house  for  the  purpose  of  learning;  consequently 
he  had  no  education  except  what  he  obtained  in  the 
chimney-corner,  by  the  light  of  blazing  pine  knots, 
while  others  slept,  and  what  he  snatched  as  he  passed 
through  his  boyhood.  But  self-taught,  he  learned  to 
read  and  write,  and  made  himself  somewhat  familiar 
with  arithmetic.  It  is  said  of  him.  by  those  who 
remember  him  well,  that  he  was  one  of  the  very  best 
readers  they  had  ever  heard.  The  principles  of  elo 
cution  and  oratory  were  intuitive  in  him.  His  voice 
was  loud,  clear  and  musical,  and  his  reading  and 
speaking  were  both  effective.  The  books  he  took 
most  pleasure  in  reading  aloud  for  the  gratification 
of  others,  were  the  Bible,  Shakspeare,  and  Pope's 
Essay  on  Man.  No  professed  elocutionist  could  ex 
ceed  him  in  giving  effect  to  what  those  great  books 
contained. 

In  1757,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  enlisted  as  a 
soldier  in  a  distinguished  corps  called  Rodgers'  Ran 
gers,  engaged  in  the  war  then  raging  with  the  French 
and  Indians  on  the  frontier.  This  body  of  troops 
was  taken  from  the  boldest  and  hardiest  of  the  yeo 
manry  of  New  England.  They  were  required  to  be 
doubly  armed,  and  to  carry  with  them  both  snow-shoes 
and  skates,  to  be  used  as  occasion  should  render 
necessary.  Their  packs  were  twice  the  weight  carried 
by  common  soldiers.  Stark,  Putnam,  and  several 
others  who  were  heroes  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
served  with  the  youthful  soldier  of  whom  I  am  speak 
ing.  The  exploits  of  the  band  of  rangers,  as  related 
by  those  who  knew  them,  seem  like  romance.  All 
along  the  borders  of  Lake  George,  they  fought  despe- 


162  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

rate  battles  and  won  brilliant  victories,  sometimes 
with  more  than  twice  their  numbers.  Hardy  as  they 
were,  those  campaigns  were  too  severe  for  many  of 
these  rangers,  and  they  perished  or  fell  fighting  their 
battles.  But  Ebenezer  "Webster  survived.  He  served 
under  General  Amherst  in  the  reduction  of  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Crown  Point. 

He  was  appointed  a  Captain,  and  his  experience 
as  a  ranger,  while  a  boy,  inspired  confidence  in  him 
as  a  man,  and  he  had  no  great  difficulty  in  raising  a 
company  in  his  own  town.  When  Burgoyne  had  en 
tered  the  territory  of  New- York,  having  taken  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  was  making  rapid  strides  across  the 
country,  Captain  Webster,  with  his  company,  under 
the  command  of  the  brave  General  Stark,  fled  to  the 
scene  of  action,  and  was  engaged  in  the  spirited  and 
successful  engagement  with  Count  Baum,  at  Ben- 
nington. 

The  following  account  of  the  part  he  performed 
is  more  brief  than  I  can  relate  it.  I  therefore  sub 
stitute  it  for  what  I  would  say : — 

It  had  been  given  out  by  Stark  some  time  pre 
vious  to  the  battle,  that  it  was  his  intention  to  march 
to  Stillwater,  and  a  detachment  of  the  British,  one 
thousand  strong,  was  consequently  sent  to  intercept 
him.  The  forces  of  the  enemy  having  been  thus  di 
vided  and  weakened,  the  American  general  was  en 
abled  to  cope  with  them  in  detail.  Col.  Warner  was 
stationed  in  the  rear  of  the  American  army,  with  a 
reserved  corps,  while  Captain  Webster  was  ordered 
to  advance  with  his  company  of  one  hundred  men,  in 
search  of  two  hundred  more,  who  were  out  upon  a 


163 

scout.  The  companies  once  united,  Captain  Webster 
was  to  assume  the  command  of  the  whole,  and  fall 
upon  the  enemy  in  the  rear,  but  on  no  account  to  fire 
until  the  action  had  commenced  on  the  other  side.  It 
was  on  this  memorable  occasion  that  General  Stark 
uttered  the  celebrated  words :  "  Fellow-soldiers  !  there 
is  the  enemy ;  if  we  don't  take  them,  Molly  Stark 
will  be  a  widow  to-night !  "  Captain  "Webster  having 
fulfilled  the  duty  assigned  him  in  collecting  together 
the  three  hundred  men,  awaited  his  share  in  the 
honors  of  the  day.  When  allowed  to  make  his  charge 
upon  the  enemy,  with  pieces  loaded,  and  with  firm 
and  equal  step,  his  men  advanced  upon  the  opposing 
breastworks.  Captain  Webster  was  the  first  to  leap 
the  defences,  but  the  reinforcements  were  not  suffi 
cient  to  render  the  attack  successful,  and  his  com 
mand  was  driven  back.  Meantime  the  British  were 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  one  thousand  fresh 
troops  upon  the  field,  and  a  new  disposition  of  the 
battle  became  necessary.  General  Stark  placed  Cap 
tain  Webster  and  Captain  Gregg  on  the  left  wing  of 
the  American  force,  Colonel  Nichols  on  the  right, 
and  placed  the  army  in  a  strong  position.  The  result 
of  that  struggle  is  a  matter  of  history,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  its  fame  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  Ebene- 
zcr  Webster. 

He  was  engaged  in  the  battle  at  White  Plains, 
and  was  also  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  himself, 
on  the  plains  of  Saratoga.  In  every  instance  he 
proved  himself  worthy  of  all  honor,  and  that  confi 
dence  in  him  was  never  misplaced. 

After  the  peace  of  1 783,  having  done  his  part  in 


164  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

achieving  the  glorious  independence  of  his  country, 
he  returned  his  sword  to  its  scabbard  and  again  re 
sumed  the  arts  of  peace.  His  sons  and  daughters 
grew  up  around  him,  and  aided  him  in  his  struggles 
with  adversity.  Prosperity  dawned  upon  him  ;  his 
log  cabin,  in  which  some  of  his  children  were  born, 
gave  place  to  a  more  comfortable  dwelling.  For  his 
toils  and  sacrifices  he  received  the  rewards  he  sought, 
which  were,  competence  for  himself  and  family,  and 
the  approval  and  respect  of  his  friends  and  neighbors. 
He  was  not  indebted  to  advantageous  circumstumvs 
for  anything,  but  to  his  own  hands  for  all  he  had,  all 
he  accomplished. 

A  large  and  valuable  tract  of  country,  situated 
between  New  England,  New-York  and  Canada,  was 
secured  to  the  British  dominions,  and  it  became  the 
interest  of  the  Governors  of  New  Hampshire  and  New- 
York  to  vie  with  each  other  in  granting  those  lands 
to  patentees  and  receiving  the  emoluments. 

The  grants  were  of  townships  equal  to  six  miles 
square.  Sixty  townships  were  granted  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Mcrrimack  River,  and  eighteen  on  the 
east  side.  A  reservation  was  made  in  each  township 
of  500  acres  for  the  Governor.  The  township  of 
Salisbury  was  thus  granted  to  Ebenezer  Webster, 
Edward  Eastman,  Philip  Call,  Benjamin  Pettengill, 
Andrew  Bohounow,  Nathaniel  Melton,  and  others. 
The  township  was  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river  extending  far  back  on  the  hill  and  embracing  a 
part  of  the  present  township  of  Franklin,  and  espe 
cially  that  part  in  which  Elms  Farm  is  included. 

After  this  grant  was  obtained,  Mr.  Webster  took 


WEBSTER'S  FATHER.  1C5 

up  his  march,  and  with  the  others  penetrated  the  un 
broken  forest,  to  the  spot  or  farm  he  chose  for  his 
location,  and  which  was  then  fifteen  miles  beyond 
Concord,  the  frontier  garrison  town  at  that  time,  and 
there,  where  I  stood  to-day,  the  youthful  and  daring 
soldier,  the  war  being  ended,  cleared  away  the  trees 
with  his  own  hands,  erected  his  log  cabin,  and  estab 
lished  himself,  to  become  a  useful  member  of  society 
— to  rear  a  family  and  to  defend  his  fireside  from 
whatever  danger  might  threaten  its  peace. 

While  he  and  his  friends  who  had  ventured  with 
him  into  that  wilderness,  were  clearing  their  lands, 
observing  the  growth  of  their  children,  and  making 
rapid  progress  towards  independence  in  their  worldly 
circumstances,  the  revolutionary  storm  burst  out,  and 
called  him  from  his  farm  to  the  battle  field.  He  was 
accustomed  to  danger,  but  not  to  fear ;  and  he  was 
prepared,  from  previous  training,  for  a  sudden  re 
sponse  to  his  country's  call. 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  such  men  are  sneered 
afc,  and  the  toils  of  the  humble  and  poor  are  men 
tioned,  and  even  cast  in  the  teeth  of  their  children 
by  way  of  disparagement.  While  I  stood  upon  the 
spot  where  that  log  cabin  stood,  I  called  to  mind  what 
Mr.  Webster  said  in  August,  1840,  at  Saratoga,  in 
reply  to  the  imputation  cast  upon  Gen.  Harrison, 
candidate  for  the  office  of  President,  that  he  "  was 
lorn  in  a  log  cabin!"  Hear  him  : 

"  Gentlemen :  It  is  only  shallow-minded  pretend 
ers,  who  either  make  distinguished  origin  matter  of 
personal  merit,  or  obscure  origin  matter  of  personal 
reproach.  Taunt 'and  scoffing  at  the  humble  condi- 


106  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

tion  of  early  life,  affect  nobody  in  this  country  but 
those  who  are  foolish  enough  to  indulge  in  them,  and 
they  are  generally  sufficiently  punished  by  public 
rebuke.  A  man  who  is  not  ashamed  of  himself,  need 
not  be  ashamed  of  his  early  condition. 

"  Gentlemen,  it  did  not  happen  to  me  to  be  born 
in  a  log  cabin,  but  my  elder  brothers  and  sisters  were 
born  in  a  log  cabin,  raised  amid  the  snow-drifts  of 
New  Hampshire,  at  a  period  so  early,  as  that  when 
the  smoke  first  rose  from  its  rude  chimney  and  curled 
over  the  frozen  hills,  there  was  no  similar  evidence 
of  a  white  man's  habitation  between  it  and  the  settle 
ments  on  the  rivers  of  Canada.  Its  remains  still  ex 
ist.  I  make  to  it  an  annual  visit.  I  carry  my  chil 
dren  to  it,  to  teach  them  the  hardships  endured  by 
the  generations  which  have  gone  before  them.  I  love 
to  dwell  on  the  tender  recollections,  the  kindred  ties, 
the  early  affections,  and  the  touching  narrations  and 
incidents,  which  mingle  with  all  I  know  of  this  primi 
tive  family  abode.  I  weep,  to  think  that  none  of 
those  who  inhabited  it  are  now  among  the  living, 
and  if  ever  I  am  ashamed  of  it,  or  if  I  ever  fail  in 
affectionate  veneration  for  HIM  who  raised  it  and  de 
fended  it  against  savage  violence  and  destruction, 
cherished  all  the  domestic  virtues  beneath  its  roof, 
and  through  the  fire  and  blood  of  a  seven  years'  re 
volutionary  war,  shrunk  from  no  danger,  no  toil,  no 
sacrifice  to  serve  his  country,  and  to  raise  his  chil 
dren  to  a  condition  better  than  his  own,  may  my 
name,  and  the  name  of  my  posterity  be  blotted  for 
ever  from  the  memory  of  mankind  !" 

After  the  peace,  on  the  more  perfect  organization 


WEBSTER'S  FATHER.  167 

of  the  militia  of  this  State,  Captain  Webster  was  pro 
moted  to  the  office  of  Colonel  of  a  Regiment,  which 
office  he  long  held,  and  took  great  pride  and  pleas 
ure  in  attending  to  military  affairs.  It  is  said  of 
him  there  was  never  a  finer-looking  officer  in  the  field. 
He  was  a  large,  well  proportioned,  dignified  looking 
man.  In  giving  the  word  of  command  his  remark 
able  voice  rose  above  any  tumult,  no  matter  how 
great,  and  was  heard  distinctly  by  every  man  on 
parade. 

He  was  often  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
of  this  State,  sometimes  to  the  Senate  and  sometimes 
to  the  Assembly,  and  he  always  exercised  that  influ 
ence  which  is  due  to  commanding  talents  and  virtu 
ous  character.  There  was  in  his  time  a  wealthy  and 
influential  family  belonging  to  the  opposite  party  in 
politics,  who  were  his  rivals  for  political  distinction, 
and  not  unfrequently  were  opposing  candidates.  To 
promote  their  success  they  made  strenuous  efforts 
and  brought  to  their  aid  their  wealth  and  other  ad 
vantages,  but  all  in  vain.  The  recital  of  one  of  the 
deeds  of  the  gallant  Colonel,  or  the  repetition  of  one 
of  his  patriotic  speeches  to  his  brothers  in  arms, 
would  outweigh  all  that  could  be  said  or  done  on  the 
other  side,  and  Colonel  Webster  never  failed  to  be 
chosen.  In  the  year  1791  he  was  appointed  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  the  duties  of  which 
he  discharged  with  integrity  and  honor  till  his  death. 

Although  his  education  was  limited,  being  self- 
taught  entirely,  yet  he  was  a  man  of  strong,  good 
sense  ;  he  read  much,  and  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  States  and  of  the  United 


168  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

States,  and  he  studied  profoundly  the  laws  of  the 
land,  as  they  affected  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
people.  His  opinions  were  held  in  great  respect  by 
all  who  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  them.  His 
general  knowledge  was  very  great.  Like  his  sons, 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  he  excelled  in  conversation,  and 
his  society  was  sought  by  all  intelligent  men. 

Judge  Webster  selected  the  farm  on  the  hill, 
where  he  first  settled,  without  much  regard  to  its  soil, 
but  because  it  was  thickly  wooded  with  pine  timber 
for  market,  and  on  account  of  a  convenient  mill  pri 
vilege  afforded  by  Punch  Brook,  a  considerable  stream 
running  through  it.  There  he  built  a  saw-mill  and 
a  grist-mill.  But  after  the  timber  had  disappeared, 
and  the  population  on  the  flat  lands  had  greatly  in 
creased,  he  sold  his  land  on  the  hill,  and  occupied 
Elms  Farm,  now  owned,  as  stated  in  my  previous 
letter,  by  his  son  Daniel. 

The  Judge  was  twice  married,  and  was  the  father 
of  ten  children — five  by  his  first  wife,  and  five  by  the 
second.  None  are  now  living  except  the  sage  of 
Marshfield. 

The  Judge,  after  a  life  of  sixty-seven  years,  well 
spent,  died  at  this  place. 

In  the  letter  to  which  I  have  alluded,  Mr.  Web 
ster,  speaking  of  his  father,  said  "  he  was  the  hand 
somest  man  I  ever  saw,  except  my  brother  Ezekiel ; 
and  he  appeared  to  me,  and  so  he  does  now  seem 
to  me,  as  my  memory  restores  him,  the  very  finest 
human  form  that  ever  I  laid  eyes  on.  I  saw  him  in 
his  coflfin — a  white  forehead,  a  tinged  cheek — a  com 
plexion  as  clear  as  heavenly  light !  " 


__ WEBSTER'S  FATHER.  169 

In  the  grave-yard,  a  little  distant  from  where  I 
am  writing,  repose  his  mortal  remains.  A  plain 
marble  slab  marks  the  spot  where  he  sleeps,  and  on 
that  slab  is  this  simple  inscription :  "  Ebenezer  Web 
ster,  Esq.,  Died  April  22nd,  1806,  Aged  67."  By 
the  side  of  that  grave  is  the  grave  of  Daniel  Webster's 
mother.  On  the  plain  marble  slab  that  tells  where 
she  sleeps,  is  the  simple  inscription :  "  Abigail,  Wife 
of  Ebenezer  Webster,  Esq.,  Died  April  25th,  1816, 
Aged  76.  » 

In  the  letter  from  which  I  am  permitted  to  make 
extracts,  Mr.  Webster  thus  sums  up  the  character  of 
his  father : 

"  He  had  in  him  what  I  recollect  to  have  been  the 
character  of  some  of  the  old  Puritans.  He  was 
deeply  religious,  but  not  sour — on  the  contrary,  good- 
humored,  facetious — showing  even  in  his  age,  with  a 
contagious  laugh,  teeth  all  white  as  alabaster — gentle, 
soft,  playful — and  yet  having  a  heart  in  him  that  he 
seemed  to  have  borrowed  from  a  lion.  He  could 
frown — a  frown  it  was ;  but  cheerfulness,  good-humor 
and  smiles  composed  his  most  usual  aspect. 

"  He  died  at  sixty-seven  years  of  age — after  a  life 
of  exertion,  toil  and  exposure — a  private  soldier,  an 
officer,  a  legislator  ;  a  judge — everything  that  a  man 
could  be,  to  whom  Learning  never  had  disclosed  her 
'  ample  page.' " 

I  have  seldom  considered  the  biography  of  a  plain 
man  with  more  satisfaction  than  his.  How  I  wish  he 
could  have  been  permitted  to  see  the  greatness  of  his 
son. 

8  Yours,  truly. 


170  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

THE  BIRTH-PLACE   OF   DANIEL  WEBSTER HIS   BROTHERS   AND 

SISTERS. 

ELMS  FARM,  October  — ,  1849. 

Mr.  "Webster  was  born  on  the  1 8th  day  of  Janu 
ary,  1782,  in  the  town  of  Salisbury.  The  house  in 
which  that  important  event  happened,  stood  on  the 
highway  named  the  North  Road,  far  up  the  western 
hill  which  borders  on  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack. 
"What  is  Franklin  was  a  part  of  that  old  township, 
and  for  a  long  time  was  called  New  Salisbury.  The 
farm  is  now  owned  by  one  Captain  Sawyer.  It  was 
originally  owned  and  occupied  by  Col.  Ebenezer 
Webster,  the  father  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  of  whom  I 
have  given  you  some  account  in  a  previous  letter. 
Not  a  vestige  of  that  habitation  remains,  to  mark  the 
place,  unless  it  is  the  cellar,  now  partly  filled  up,  and 
the  trunk  of  an  ancient  apple-tree,  the  top  of  which 
is  dead,  but  from  which,  near  the  earth,  are  sprouting 
forth  a  few  thriving  branches.  From  these,  I  cut  a 
walking  staff,  which  I  have  sent  to  my  excellent 
friend,  Luther  R.  Marsh,  Esq.,  an  eminent  counsellor 
at  the  bar  in  your  city. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  place  of  his  birth  ia 
the  old  well,  in  which  hangs  an  "  iron-bound  bucket." 
This  well  was  excavated  by  his  father,  long  before 
Mr.  Webster  was  born,  and  from  it  his  family  were 
accustomed  to  draw  the  pure  and  cool  water  to  slake 
their  thirst,  as  I  drew  it  yesterday  to  quench  mine. 
By  the  side  of  this  well  stands  an  elm-tree,  planted 
by  his  father  about  the  year  1 768.  It  has  grown 
luxuriantly,  and  its  branches  extend  over  a  circle 


HIS    BIRTHPLACE.  l7l 


one  hundred  feet  in  diameter — affording  perpetual 
shade  to  the  well,  and  to  those  who  choose  to  sit  un 
der  them.  For  more  than  sixty  years,  almost  annu 
ally,  Mr.  Webster  has  sat  occasionally  under  that 
tree,  and  drank  of  that  water.  Scattered  about  the 
premises,  near  the  well,  are  a  few  ancient  apple,  plum, 
and  pear  trees,  which  were  planted  by  Captain  East 
man,  his  mother's  father,  and  who  during  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  lived  with  Col.  Webster. 

Near  the  spot  runs  "  Punch  Brook,"  which  was 
then  a  roaring,  rattling,  bubbling  stream,  of  consider 
able  importance ;  but  clearing  the  lands  about  its 
sources,  has  diminished  it  to  a  little  rivulet,  which 
meanders  on  its  way  along  the  hill-side,  through 
glens  and  meadows,  to  the  river.  It  was  in  this 
brook  that  Mr.  Webster  remembers  he  caught  his 
first  fish.  He  never  passes  the  spot  where  that  ex 
ploit  was  performed,  without  relating  the  anecdote 
not  only  of  taking  the  trout,  but  of  the  ducking  he 
had  when  a  child. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  is  the  site  of 
the  old  mill,  built  by  Col.  Webster  immediately  af 
ter  he  took  possession  of  this  land.  Yesterday,  I 
called  to  pay  my  respects  to  Lieutenant  Benjamin 
Pettingill,  a  venerable  old  man,  who  related  to  me 
many  pleasing  anecdotes  concerning  the  family  of 
Mr.  Webster  j  and,  among  other  things,  he  said,  that 
he  well  remembered  going  to  that  mill  with  his  grist, 
and  having  waited  for  it  to  be  ground  by  Ebenezer 
Webster  the  eldest  brother  of  Daniel.  Two  huge 
rocks  projecting  from  the  bank,  on  each  side  of  the 
stream,  formed  the  abutments  of  the  old  mill-dam, 


172  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  the  remains  of  the  constructed  portion  are  still 
visible.  No  traces  remain  of  the  old  mill  itself,  un 
less  they  are  the  mill-stones.  After  their  use  was 
discontinued,  these  valuable  relics  were  carried  up 
the  bank  and  put  into  a  cellar-wall,  where  I  saw 
them.  The  building  that  stood  over  the  cellar  has 
long  since  gone  to  decay,  but  there  stand  the  grind 
ing  stones  facing  each  other,  which,  for  many  years, 
assisted  in  making  bread  for  the  pioneers  of  all  this 
section  of  the  country.  Were  they  mine,  I  would 
not  be  Vandal  enough  to  break  them  to  pieces. 

There  are  on  the  farm  a  few  fertile  spots  which 
rewarded  its  present  owner  satisfactorily  for  his  toil 
and  pains  ;  but  the  granite  rocks  visible  in  all  direc 
tions,  render  a  great  portion  of  it  fit  only  for  pastur 
age.  Such  is  the  birth-place  of  the  greatest  man  of 
our  time.  Is  such  a  spot  without  interest  ? 

Mr.  Daniel  Webster  was  one  of  ten  children, 
himself  the  ninth.  I  will  mention  each  one  in  the 
order  of  their  ages. 

Ebenezer  Webster  was  his  eldest  brother.  He 
always  resided  at  home,  where  he  not  only  cultivated 
the  farm  but  aided  his  father  in  carrying  on  the 
mills.  He  died  at  an  early  age.  and  was  buried  in 
the  ancient  burying-ground.  on  the  North  Road. 
Daniel  scarcely  knew  him. 

Olivia  Webster  was  his  eldest  sister.  I  know 
nothing  of  her,  save  only  that  she  too  died  at  an 
early  age. 

Susannah  Webster,  the  next  to  his  eldest  sister, 
married  Mr.  John  Colby.  He  is  still  living  a  vener 
able  and  highly  respected  old  gentleman  in  Bosca- 


HIS    BROTHERS    AND    SISTERS.  173 

wen,  but  she  has  long  since  been  numbered  with  the 
dead.  She  left  several  children  who  reside  in  the 
vicinity. 

David  Webster,  next  to  his  eldest  brother,  married 
Mrs.  Huntoon.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  at  an  early 
day  removed  with  his  family  to  Canada,  where  he 
lived  and  died.  He  had  a  large  family  of  children, 
and  some  of  the  descendants  are  eminent  men  and 
women,  who  are  making  their  mark  on  the  time. 
Some  of  them  hold  important  offices  under  the  Gov 
ernment  of  that  country. 

Joseph  Webster,  the  next  brother,  married  a  Miss 
Colby.  He  was  remarkable  for  his  ready  wit.  He 
too,  was  a  farmer.  He  died,  January  28,  1810, 
aged  41.  He  had  two  children,  who  I  think  are  still 
living. 

Mahitable  Webster  was  the  third  sister.  She 
was  a  woman  much  beloved  by  her  acquaintances,  and 
never  married.  She  died  July  4,  1814,  aged  37. 

Abigail  Webster,  the  fourth  sister,  married  Mr. 
Haddock,  who  long  resided  and  finally  died  in 
Franklin.  The  old  house  in  which  he  died  stands 
near  this  farm.  She  was  the  mother  of  Dr.  Charles 
B.  Haddock,  now,  perhaps,  the  most  eminent  Pro 
fessor  at  Dartmouth  College,  and  unquestionably  a 
good  scholar,  if  not  the  greatest  man  in  the  State. 
Among  those  who  know  him  his  reputation  stands 
high.  He  has  been  in  the  Legislature,  and  was  pro 
minent  among  the  Whigs  as  a  candidate  for  the  office 
of  Senator  in  Congress. 

Mrs.  Haddock,  his  mother,  long  since  departed 


174  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

this  life.  Her  grave  is  among  others  in  the  burying 
ground  near  Elms  Farm. 

Honorable  Ezekiel  Webster  was  the  next  older 
than  Daniel,  and  was  his  full  brother — the  others 
being  only  half-brothers. 

He  was  born  in  Salisbury,  and  although  older 
than  Daniel,  yet  he  followed  him  two  years  or  more 
through  college  and  through  the  study  of  the  law 
— not  having  taken  up  his  books  or  made  any  prepa 
ration  till  Daniel  had  made  rapid  advances  and  had 
proved  what  could  be  done  under  disadvantageous 
circumstances.  When  admitted  to  the  bar  he  opened 
his  office  in  Boscawen,  and  went  immediately  into  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  practice. 

His  extraordinary  talents  and  great  private  worth 
placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  his  profession,  and 
indeed  in  the  front  rank  of  men  ?  His  wisdom  and 
solid  judgment  in  all  the  affairs  of  men,  commanded 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  all.  He  was  often  in 
the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  New  Hampshire.  There 
was  no  man  Kving  for  whose  judgment  and  advice 
Mr.  Webster  had  so  much  respect  as  that  of  his 
brother  Ezekiel.  It  is  said  of  him  that  all  he  ever 
asked  was  the  approval  of  Ezekiel.  The  applause 
of  the  multitude,  the  laudations  of  the  press,  the 
flattering  attention  of  an  entranced  Senate,  all 
dwindled  to  insignificance  when  compared  with  the 
silent  but  certain  approbation  of  Ezekiel  !  It  is 
said  of  the  Roman  Coriolanus,  that  the  greatest  in 
centive  to  action  he  ever  had  in  his  career  of  glory 
was  the  desire  to  do  frequently  acts  that  would  meet 
the  approbation  of  his  mother.  So  it  was  with  Mr. 


HIS    BROTHERS    AND    SISTERS.  175 

Webster,  while  his  mother  lived ;  but  when  she  was 
no  more  his  mind  turned  to  Ezekiel. 

When,  after  his  reply  to  Gen.  Hayne.  in  the 
Senate,  his  fame  rose  to  its  zenith,  and  his  praises 
were  sounded  wherever  the  English  language  was 
spoken,  Ezekiel  had  departed  this  life.  Then,  Mr. 
Webster,  as  if  doubtful  of  it  all,  was  heard  to  say, 
"How  I  wish  my  poor  brother  had  lived  till  after 
this  speech,  that  I  might  know  if  he  would  have  been 
gratified." 

On  the  10th  of  April,  1829,  while  Ezekiel  was  in 
Court,  at  Concord,  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  most 
brilliant  forensic  efforts,  death  aimed  his  fatal  dart, 
and  he  fell  dead  at  the  feet  of  the  Judges.  He  died 
from  a  disease  of  the  heart,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine, 
beloved  and  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  at 
that  time  by  far  the  most  worthy  and  influential  man 
in  this  State. 

The  following  notice  of  his  death  was  entered  in 
a  Pastor's  Journal  the  day  on  which  it  took  place. 

April  10,  1829. — This  day  witnessed  the  most 
solemn  scene  I  ever  beheld.  At  three  o'clock,  P.  M., 
Hon.  Ezekiel  Webster,  of  Boscawen,  commenced  an 
argument  before  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  in  Con 
cord.  I  sat  directly  before  him.  He  stood  firm,  dig 
nified.  His  voice,  clear,  full,  strong.  His  plea  con 
nected,  convincing,  powerful.  His  health  apparently 
good  ;  and  his  whole  appearance  that  of  a  man  in  the 
possession  and  exercise  of  his  noblest  powers.  He 
had  spoken  about  twenty  minutes,  when  he  fell  back 
wards  and  expired  without  a  struggle  or  a  groan. 
The  impression  of  this  instant  was  awful.  Every 


176  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

face  was  pale  ! — every  heart  trembled  !  The  immor 
tal  spirit  was  gone — and  the  realities  of  the  invisible 
world  seemed  in  full  prospect.  '  In  the  midst  of  life 
we  are  in  death.'  May  I  never  forget  the  scene,  or 
the  instruction  it  imparts." 

I  have  taken  some  pains  to  ascertain  the  mental 
endowments,  the  character,  and  standing  of  this  truly 
eminent  brother  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  everything  I 
have  learned  has  excited  my  admiration.  I  cannot, 
however,  give  you  a  better  idea  of  him  than  by  using 
almost  the  very  words  in  which  I  find  him  described 
by  one  of  his  classmates  in  College.  I  have  it  before 
me  and  will  give  you  what  he  says : 

In  college,  he  was  the  first  in  his  class  ;  his  intel 
lect  was  of  a  very  high  order ;  its  capacity  was  gen 
eral,  for  he  was  able  to  comprehend  the  abstruse  and 
difficult,  and  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy  the  tasteful 
and  the  elegant.  He  was  distinguished  for  classical 
literature. 

His  knowledge  of  Greek,  particularly,  was  beyond 
that  of  his  cotemporaries  in  college ;  and  this  is  al 
most  an  unqualified  proof  of  taste,  when  the  study  is 
pursued  from  a  real  fondness  for  the  language,  and 
not  merely  for  the  pride  of  learning,  or  for  the  re 
wards  of  superiority. 

His  knowledge  of  English  literature  was  deep  and 
extensive,  for  he  had  not  skimmed  over  books  as  a 
matter  of  amusement,  but  he  looked  into  them  as  a 
man  of  mind,  who  intends  to  draw  lessons  from  all  he 
reads.  Few  men  among  our  scholars  knew  so  much 
of  the  English  poets  as  he  did,  and  he  valued  them  as 
he  should  have  done,  as  philosophers  and  painters  of 


HIS    BROTHERS    AND    SISTERS.  177 

human  nature,  from  whom  much  knowledge  may  be 
obtained  to  illustrate  and  adorn  what  duller  minds 
have  put  into  maxims  and  rules. 

He  made  himself  master  of  the  law  as  a  science, 
and  became  well  acquainted  with  its  practice  in  his 
native  State.  He  went  up  to  the  first  principles  with 
the  ease  and  directness  of  a  great  mind,  and  separated 
at  once  that  which  was  casual  and  local  from  that 
which  is  permanent  and  founded  on  the  basis  of  moral 
justice  and  the  nature  of  man.  There  seemed  no 
effort  in  anything  he  did  ;  all  was  natural  and  easy, 
as  if  intuitive.  There  was  nothing  about  him  of  that 
little  bustling  smartness  so  often  seen  in  ordinary 
persons  striving  to  perform  something  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  little  world  around  them. 

His  general  information  was  not  only  extensive, 
but  laid  up  in  excellent  order  ready  for  use.  He  was 
steadily  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  profession,  but 
never  seemed  hurried  or  confused  in  his  business. 
He  took  all  calmly  and  quietly.  He  did  nothing  for 
parade  or  show,  or  mere  effect,  nor  did  he  speak  to 
the  audience  while  addressing  the  court  and  jury. 
His  life  was  passed  in  habits  of  industry  and  perse 
verance  ;  and  his  accumulations  of  wealth  and  know 
ledge  were  regular  and  rapid.  From  the  commence 
ment  of  his  life  as  a  reasoning  being,  responsible  for 
his  own  actions  to  the  close  of  it,  he  preserved  the 
most  perfect  consistency  of  character — no  paroxysms 
of  passion,  no  eccentricities  of  genius  were  ever  found 
in  him.  His  equanimity  was  only  equalled  by  his 
firmness  of  purpose.  In  this  he  was  most  conspicu 
ous  ;  he  thought  leisurely  and  cautiously,  and  having 
8* 


178  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

made  up  his  mind  lie  was  steadfast  and  immova 
ble. 

Having  no  hasty  or  premature  thoughts,  he  sel» 
dom  had  occasion  to  change  his  opinion,  and  was, 
therefore,  free  from  those  mortifying  repentances,  so 
common  to  superior  minds  of  warmer  temperament. 

By  honesty  of  purpose  and  soundness  of  judg 
ment,  he  kept  a  just  balance  in  weighing  all  matters 
before  him.  All  this  firmness  and  equanimity,  and 
other  virtues,  seemed  constitutional,  and  not  made  up 
by  those  exertions  so  necessary  to  most  frail  beings, 
who  intend  to  support  a  character  for  steady  habits. 
He  was  blessed  with  a  frame  that  felt  few  or  no  in 
firmities,  such  as  weaken  the  nerves  and  bring  down 
the  mighty  in  intellect  to  those  degrading  supersti 
tions  that  stain  the  brightness  of  genius  and  destroy 
the  high  hopes  of  immortal  beings,  and  make  them 
slaves  to  darkness  and  absurdity. 

He  suffered  no  moral  or  mental  weakness  in  his 
whole  path  of  duty,  for  his  constitution,  until  within 
a  short  time  of  his  death,  exhibited  a  sound  mind  in 
a  sound  body,  and  neither  appeared  essentially  injured 
or  decayed,  to  the  hour  of  his  exit  from  the  world. 

He  never  sought  public  honors,  nor  literary  or 
political  distinctions,  and  therefore  had  none  of  those 
throes  and  agonies  so  common  to  vaulting  ambition ; 
not  that  he  declined  all  public  trusts,  when  he  was  con 
scious  that  he  could  do  any  good  to  his  fellow-men. 
He  was  several  years  a  member  of  one  or  the  other 
branch  of  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
served  as  a  trustee  of  'Dartmouth  College.  He  was 
at  different  times  put  up  for  a  member  of  Congress, 


HIS    BROTHERS    AND    SISTERS.  1*79 

but  it  was  at  periods  when  his  friends  thought  that 
his  name  would  do  some  good  to  his  political  party, 
as  the  members  of  Congress  in  New  Hampshire  were 
chosen  by  a  general  ticket ;  but  when  they  were  de 
cidedly  in  power,  he  would  seldom  or  never  consent 
to  be  a  candidate.  This  was  much  to  be  regretted, 
for  he  was  admirably  calculated  for  public  life  by  his 
extensive  knowledge  and  incorruptible  integrity.  He 
would  have  been  a  first-rate  speaker  on  the  floor  of 
Congress.  His  eloquence  was  impressive  and  com 
manding.  There  was  in  his  delivery  a  slight  defect 
in  the  labial  sounds — in  the  familiar  use  of  his  voice, 
which  was  rather  pleasant  to  the  listener  than  other 
wise,  for  it  was  a  proof  of  a  natural  manner ;  but 
warmed  by  his  subject,  a  more  rich,  full,  and  sonor 
ous  voice,  was  seldom  heard  in  any  public  body ;  not 
that  his  tones  were  delicate  or  mellifluous,  but  full  of 
majesty  and  command,  free  from  arrogance,  timidity, 
or  hesitation.  His  gestures  were  graceful,  but  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  studied ;  his  language  was  rich, 
gentlemanly,  select,  but  not  painfully  chosen  ;  he  not 
only  had  words  for  all  occasions,  but  the  very  words 
he  should  have  used. 

As  a  writer  he  excelled  in  judgment  and  taste  ; 
there  was  a  classical  elegance  in  his  familiar  writ- 
tings  5  and  his  higher  compositions  were  marked  with 
that  lucid  order  and  clearness  of  thought  and  purity 
of  expression  which  distinguished  the  Augustan  age. 
His  sentences  were  not  grappled  together  by  hooks  of 
steel,  but  connected  by  golden  hinges,  that  made  a 
harmonious  whole.  His  library  was  rich  in  works  of 
merit,  ancient  and  modern.  The  history  of  literature 


180  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  science  was  as  familiar  to  him  as  that  of  his  na 
tive  State,  and  he  had  the  means  of  turning  to  it 
with  much  greater  facility. 

He  was  an  instance  in  point  that  a  man  may  be  a 
good  lawyer,  and  yet  devote  some  of  his  time  to  the 
classical  pursuits. 

Ezekiel  Webster  was  one  of  those  great  men, 
rare  instances  in  the  world,  who  had  thrown  away  am 
bition  ;  and  who  preferred  to  be  learned  and  happy 
in  his  course  of  life,  rather  than  to  court  the  gale 
and  spread  his  sails,  to  be  wafted  along  on  public  opin 
ion.  He  sought  not  popularity,  but  he  had  it ;  that 
popularity  which  follows,  not  that  ivhich  is  run  after. 

He  watched  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  was  as 
good  a  diviner  in  politics  as  any  one ;  but  whatever 
the  presages  were,  he  looked  at  coming  events  un 
moved,  leaving  their  results  to  Heaven. 

For  several  of  -the  last  years  of  his  life,  he  was 
curtailing  his  business  in  order  to  devote  some  por 
tion  of  the  prime  of  his  manhood  to  literary  and 
scientific  pursuits,  so  congenial  to  his  heart ;  but  in 
this  he  was  disappointed,  for  yet  while  in  the  fulness 
of  his  strength  he  was  called  to  leave  the  world,  for 
whose  benefit  he  was  formed.  The  ways  of  Providence 
are  right,  however  hidden  the  laws  are  from  us.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  one  so  able  should  have  writ 
ten  so  little  as  he  has  ;  probably  he  was  waiting  for 
those  hours  of  leisure,  in  which  he  was  contemplating 
to  form  his  plan  of  some  literary  work.  The  writer 
once  suggested  to  him  the  history  of  his  native  State 
as  a  subject  for  his  pen,  and  the  thought  did  not  seem 
unpleasant  to  him. 


HIS    BROTHERS    AND    SISTERS.  181 

No  one  bad  a  more  admirable  spirit  of  criticism 
than  Ezekiel  Webster,  united  with  that  generous  in 
dulgence  which  only  great  minds  feel  and  practise. 
A  few  months  before  he  died,  some  symptoms  of  a  dis 
ease  of  the  heart  were  perceptible,  but  not  alarming 
to  his  friends  ;  but  he  knew  the  uncertainty  of  hu 
man  life,  and,  without  any  special  command,  set  his 
house  in  order,  and  made  preparation  for  his  long 
journey.  There  is  a  beauty  in  that  calm,  deep,  silent, 
religious  feeling,  that  none  but  great  and  pure  minds 
can  ever  know.  After  having  put  all  his  worldly 
affairs  into  a  most  perfect  train  for  settlement  at  his 
death,  and  wishing  his  friends  to  be  free  from  all 
doubts  upon  his  religious  impressions  and  belief,  he 
sat  down  and  wrote  his  sentiments  on  this  moment 
ous  subject,  which  were  found  on  his  table  after  his 
death.  This  was  his  last  composition.  How  true  it 
is,  that  the  enjoyment  of  health,  the  accumulating  of 
wealth,  the  pursuits  of  science,  and  the  love  of  let 
ters,  and  the  world's  applause,  sanctioned  by  the  good 
man's  benison,  are  not  for  an  immortal  mind.  All 
these  things  are,  in  a  great  measure,  connected  with  fel 
low-mortals,  and  are  finite  in  their  influences  upon  the 
mind,  while  religion  is  a  connection  with  infinity,  with 
Deity  ;  it  enters  into  eternity,  leaves  time  and  sense 
to  earth,  and  by  the  bright  inspirations  of  faith,  takes 
the  ,sting  from  death,  and  from  the  grave  its  vic 
tory. 

A  great  mind,  accustomed  to  "  long  converse  with 
the  invisible  world,"  and  seeing,  day  after  day,  his 
friends  falling  around  him,  breathes  as  each  descends 
to  the  tomb. 


182  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

How  dreary  is  this  gulf!  how  dark— how  void— 
The  trackless  shores,  that  never  were  repass'dl 

Dread  separation  !  on  the  depth  untried, 
Hope  falters,  and  the  soul  recoils  aghast ! 

Wide  round  the  spacious  heavens  I  cast  my  eyes ; 

And  shall  these  stars  glow  with  immortal  fire  ? 
Still  shine  the  lifeless  glories  of  the  skies  ! 

And  could  thy  bright,  thy  living  soul  expire 

Far  be  the  thought  1    The  pleasures  most  sublime ; 

The  glow  of  friendship,  and  the  virtuous  tear ; 
The  soaring  wish  that  scorns  the  bounds  of  time, 

Chill' d  in  the  vale  of  death,  but  languish  here. 

Sarah  Webster,  his  youngest  sister,  was  the  tenth 
child,  and  next  to  him.  She  married  her  cousin, 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Webster,  and  always  lived  in  Franklin. 
She  died  March  19,  1831,  aged  twenty-one. 

In  1846,  Mr.  Webster  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  while 
speaking  of  his  father,  says  :  "  The  grave  has  closed 
upon  him,  as  it  has  on  all  my  brothers  and  sisters. 
We  shall  soon  be  all  together.  But  this  is  melan 
choly,  and  I  leave  it.  Dear,  dear  kindred  blood, 
how  I  love  you  all !" 

Peace  be  to  their  ashes. 

Yours  truly. 


DANIEL   WKDSTEK  IN  IU3  INFANCY  AND  BOYHOOD. 

ELMS  FAKM,  N.  H.,  October  — ,  1849. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  speak  of  the  events  of 
Mr.  Webster's  life. 

The  first  time  he  appeared  in  public,  before  one 
of  those  audiences  which  he  has  so  often  delighted, 


HIS    INFANCY    AND    BOYHOOD.  183 

Was  when  carried  to  the  old  church  that  stood  on 
"  Meeting-House  Hill,"  to  be  christened.  His  speech 
on  that  occasion  is  not  reported,  nor  was  there  any 
thing  recorded  as  to  his  manner,  or  the  qualities  of 
his  voice ;  but  in  the  report  of  his  speeches  on  subse 
quent  occasions,  so  much  has  been  said  about  the 
dignity  of  his  manner,  his  self-possession,  his  retorts, 
his  repartees,  his  indignation  when  assailed,  and  of 
the  strength  and  peculiarity  of  his  voice ;  we  may 
thence  infer  something  as  to  what  was  his  deport 
ment  on  his  first  appearance.  I  think  he  gave  the 
audience  a  touch  as  to  the  qualities  of  his  voice. 

The  ceremony  of  baptism  was  performed  in  the 
most  imposing  manner  by  Rev.  Jonathan  Searle,  who 
for  many  years  was  the  clergyman  of  the  parish.  You 
should  know  something  of  the  man,  in  order  to  get 
an  idea  of  his  mode  of  administration*  Regarding 
himself  as  an  extraordinary  personage,  and  attaching 
great  importance  to  his  high  calling  and  everything 
pertaining  to  it,  he  always  claimed  and  received  much 
homage  from  the  people  to  whom  he  preached.  He 
wore  a  tri-cornered  cocked  hat.  powdered  wig,  orna 
mented  knee  and  shoe  buckles,  with  the  most  ample 
surplice  and  gown.  While  his  manner,  in  all  cere 
monies  of  the  church,  was  pompous  in  the  extreme, 
he  was  condescending  and  courteous  to  people  of  rank 
and  respectability,  and  kind  to  all,  no  matter  how 
humble.  The  christening  of  the  child  of  Colonel 
Ebenezer  Webster  was  an  event  of  some  considerable 
moment,  and,  of  course,  everything  due  to  the  occa 
sion  was  said  and  done. 

Tradition  says  the  day  was  bright  and  beautiful ; 


184  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  the  following  anecdote  is  told  to  show  how 
readily  certain  persons  can  step  from  what  they  would 
have  us  think  the  sublime,  to  what  others  laugh  at 
as  the  ridiculous.  I  must  tell  it  to  you.  I  have 
heard  Mr.  Webster  tell  it,  as  he  said  it  was  told  to 
him  by  one  who  saw  it. 

There  was  a  lady  of  the  congregation  by  the  name 
of  Mrs.  Clay,  doubtless  an  excellent  woman,  but  she 
was  proud,  and  passionately  fond  of  dress  and  dis 
play,  which  was  no  crime. 

Her  bonnet  was  of  the  most  ample  dimensions, 
and  at  this  particular  time  it  was  in  that  respect  at 
the  very  extreme  of  fashion.  It  was,  moreover,  be 
decked  with  a  large  veil,  numerous  bows  of  ribbons 
and  feathers,  among  which  a  fresh  wind  created  much 
fluttering.  The  ceremony  of  the  altar  being  over, 
this  lady,  as  she  was  accustomed  to  do  on  such  occa 
sions,  assumed  a  prominent  position  in  the  broad  aisle 
as  the  congregation  was  leaving  the  house,  and  there 
waited  till  Rev.  Mr.  Searle,  Col.  Webster  and  his 
lady,  approached ,  that  she  might  speak  to  them,  es 
pecially  to  congratulate  the  latter  on  the  interesting 
event  that  had  just  transpired.  Having  made  her 
compliments  to  the  party,  and  patted  Daniel  on  the 
cheeks,  she  was  walking  along  by  the  side  of  the 
stately  parson  across  the  green.  In  the  midst  of 
the  courteous  salutations  of  the  pompous  clergyman 
to  her  ladyship,  a  mischievous  flaw  of  wind  struck 
her  bonnet  and  carried  it  away,  floating  like  a  balloon 
on  the  breeze,  whirling  and  leaping  down  the  hill 
side.  Mrs.  Clay,  of  course,  was  anxious  for  the  fate 
of  her  best  bonnet,  and  spoke  to  the  parson. 


HIS  INFANCY  AND  BOYHOOD.          185 

"Dear  sir,  will  you  pick  up  my  bonnet?" 

The  parson,  of  course,  condescendingly  strutted 
after  it,  but  he  could  not  so  far  unbend  his  dignity  as 
to  run  in  the  presence  of  his  congregation.  His  walk 
was  not  sufficiently  rapid  to  overtake  the  bonnet. 
She  again  appealed  to  him,  at  the  same  time  follow 
ing  close  to  his  heels, — 

"  Reverend  Sir,  do  stop  my  bonnet,  it  will  be 
ruined !" 

The  parson  increased  his  strides,  and,  as  it  hung 
by  a  twig,  came  near  capturing  it,  but  just  as  he  was 
about  to  clutch  it,  away  it  went  again.  She  then 
concentrated  into  her  voice  and  manner  all  hor  pa 
thos, — 

"  Do,  Reverend  and  dear  Sir,  be  so  good  as  to 
hasten  on  and  stop  my  bonnet ;  what  shall  I  do  !  " 

The  clergyman  was  now  extending  his  strides  to 
the  utmost  extent  of  his  long  legs,  and  was  on  the 
fastest  walk  which  his  dignity  would  permit,  but  the 
bonnet  still  whirled  and  twitched  on  beyond  his 
reach  ;  destruction  seemed  inevitable  ;  her  patience 
was  exhausted  ;  she  threw  aside  all  restraint,  and,  at 
the  top  of  her  voice,  forgetting  the  dignity  of  the  par 
son,  she  cried  out — 

"  Searle,  you  devil  you,  why  don't  you  run?" 

This  appeal  spurred  him  into  a  run,  by  which  he 
caught  the  truant  bonnet,  and  restored  it  to  the  half- 
frantic  lady.  The  race  down  Meeting-House  Hill,  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Searle  and  Mrs.  Clay,  in  pursuit  of  the 
bonnet,  will  never  be  forgotten. 

The  old  church  has  long  since  disappeared.  The 
apex  of  the  hill  on  which  it  stood  is  now  a  part  of  an 


186  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

extensive  pasture,  on  which  bleating  flocks  and  low 
ing  herds  feed  at  pleasure,  or  roam  over  it,  uncon 
scious,  of  course,  of  any  of  the  past  events  which 
have  invested  it  with  interest  to  those  who  like  to 
know  the  legends  of  that  neighborhood. 

On  the  spot  where  the  old  meeting-house  stood  I 
shot  a  brace  of  birds  which,  to-morrow,  will  be  cooked 
for  my  dinner,  and,  after  sitting  an  hour,  listening  to 
the  stories  related  by  an  aged  but  well-informed  farm 
er,  concerning  "  the  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet," 
I  returned  to  the  Valley  of  the  Merrimackj  delighted 
with  a  pleasant  day's  rambling. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  when 
business  of  all  kinds  began  to  prosper,  Col.  Webster 
bought  the  house  still  standing  in  a  bend  of  the  old 
turnpike  road,  built  by  one  Elizabeth  Gale.  It  is  a 
two-story  frame  building,  to  which  has  since  been 
added  a  front  piazza.  Daniel  was  then  a  mere  child. 
Soon  after  this  removal,  Mr.  Haddock,  the  father  of 
the  eminent  Professor,  built  the  present  mansion- 
house,  and,  after  occupying  it  for  a  short  time,  trans 
ferred  it  to  Col.  Webster,  in  exchange  for  the  one 
built  by  Mrs.  Gale.  Thereupon,  Col.  Webster  re 
moved  into  it  with  his  family.  I  described  this 
house  and  farm  in  a  former  letter. 

Mr.  Webster's  first  instructress  was  his  mother. 
She  taught  him  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and,  with 
a  watchful  anxiety  that  always  distinguished  her,  was 
careful  that  her  son  devoted  as  much  time  as  possible 
to  learning.  She  prophesied  in  his  infancy  his  future 
distinction,  and  fortunately  lived  to  see  her  prophecy 
fulfilled.  He  was  in  Congress  before  she  died. 


HIS  INFANCY  AND  BOYHOOD.         187 

Happy  woman  !  She  was  remarkable  for  her  intel 
lect,  her  piety,  and  the  truest  affections.  She  was 
loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  her,  and,  more 
than  that,  was  venerated  by  her  children.  Mr.  Web 
ster  has  often  been  heard  to  say,  his  mother  taught 
him  to  read  the  Bible ;  he  could  read  that  before  he 
went  to  school. 

It  is  often  asserted  by  those  who  know  the  family, 
that  the  extraordinary  genius  with  which  Mr.  Web 
ster  is  endowed  by  nature,  descended  to  him  on  his 
mother's  side ;  at  all  events,  she  was  unwearied  in 
her  efforts  to  make  him  what  she  wished  him  to  be — 
the  first  in  the  ranks  of  those  around  him. 

New  Hampshire  was  backward  in  organizing  and 
providing  for  common  schools.     At  the  time  Daniel 
was  old  enough  to  attend,  there  was  no  regular  school 
in  his  vicinity.     But  the  immediate  neighbors  of  Col. 
Webster,  as  well  as  himself,  were  anxious  to  have"\. 
their  children  taught ;  and,  to  accommodate  them,  a 
Mr.  Chase,  a  schoolmaster,  hired  a  room  in  the  house        / 
of  Mr.  Sandborn,  near  this  farm,  and   Daniel,  with       / 
other  small  children,  went  daily  to  him,  to  be  taught     / 
to  spell  and  read.     The  house  is  still  standing.  / 

The  common  school  law  of  the  State  divided  each 
town  into  two  or  more  school  districts..  Salisbury 
was  so  divided  that  the  district  in  which  he  lived  ex 
tended  from  the  river  backward  several  miles  among 
the  hills.  In  it  there  were  three  school-houses — one 
on  the  river  at  this  place,  one  on  the  north  road,  and 
the  third  in  the  western  part  of  the  district. 

The  trustees  at  length  employed  a  Mr.  William 
Hoyt,  a  schoolmaster  by  profession,  for  the  district. 


188  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

This  man  taught  a  school  for  four  months  in  the  first 
school-house,  then  four  months  in  the  middle  house, 
and  then  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  the  most 
remote. 

This  routine  he  repeated  annually  for  several 
years.  Mr.  Webster  was  sent  to  Mr.  Hoyt.  The 
first  school-house  that  he  ever  entered  was  built  of 
logs,  and  stood  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  old  road, 
about  *one  hundred  yards  northerly  from  this  farm, 
between  two  ancient  butternut  trees,  but  not  a  ves 
tige  of  the  old  house  remains. 

When  Mr.  Hoyt  occupied  the  middle  school- 
house,  Daniel  attended  only,  carrying  his  dinner  with 
him  in  a  basket ;  but  when  the  third  house  was  occu 
pied,  Col.  Webster  paid  for  his  board  in  the  western 
part  of  the  town.  He  went  on  Monday  morning,  and 
came  home  on  Saturday,  making  those  journeys  on 
his  rather  young  and  tender  feet.  I  drove  over  this 
same  road  yesterday,  and  fancied  I  saw  Mr.  Web 
ster,  a  little  fellow,  climbing  the  hills,  crossing  the 
streams,  carrying  a  heavy  heart  as  he  went,  and  bring 
ing  a  light  one  on  his  return. 

But  Mr.  William  Hoyt  was  not  eminent  as  a 
teacher.  He  was  a  good  scribe,  and  in  the  art  of  pen 
manship  he  excelled,  but  in  no  other.  He  taught  the 
boys  to  read  and  spell,  to  write,  and  to  understand,  to 
some  extent,  the  fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic. 
He  was  severe  in  his  discipline,  and  played  the  tyrant 
to  the  extent  of  his  brief  authority  over  the  unlucky 
little  fellows  who,  perchance,  went  counter  to  his  de 
crees.  A  year  or  two  enabled  Mr.  Webster  to  learn 
from  him  all  the  pedagogue  could  teach  that  was 


HIS    INFANCY    AND    BOYHOOD.  189 

worth  knowing.  But  William  Hoyt  had  the  honoi 
of  being  one  of  the  teachers  of  the  first  man  in  this 
country,  and  his  memory  is  entitled  to  our  respect. 
"  He  taught  that  boy,"  was  his  chaplet — his  claim  to 
renown. 

Under  the  teaching  of  this  master,  Mr.  "Webster 
learned  to  write  a  beautiful  hand. 

Among  those  who  taught  Mr.  Webster,  and  the 
next  in  order  to  Mr.  Chase,  was  a  Master  Tappan,  now 
known  as  Colonel  Tappan,  who  still  lives,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two,  and  is  kindly  remembered  by  his  pupil. 
There  he  learned  to  spell ;  it  is  said  of  him  there  was 
no  word  in  the  spelling  book  that  was  not  also  in  his 
memory.  There,  too,  he  learned  the  rudiments  of 
arithmetic.  With  his  rude  slate  and  pencil  he  could 
work  out  the  simple  problems,  taught  by  such  a  mas 
ter,  in  such  a  school.  He  learned  the  art  of  reading 
well  from  his  excellent  father,  who  was  noted  for  this 
accomplishment. 

His  love  of  elocution,  his  taste  for  oratory,  his 
knowledge  of  true  eloquence,  which  have  shone  con 
spicuously  on  all  subsequent  occasions,  were  the  result 
of  twigs  first  bent  in  the  right  direction,  by  hearing 
his  father  read  as  he  could  read,  the  Bible,  Shakspeare 
and  Pope. 

Professor  Sandborn,  who  relates  many  incidents 
concerning  him,  says  that  aged  men,  who  are  familiar 
with  his  early  life,  mention,  among  their  earliest  re 
collections  of  his  childhood,  a  fondness  for  books  above 
his  years.  His  father  kept  open  doors  for  all  travel 
lers.  The  teamsters,  who  came  from  the  North,  were 
accustomed  to  say,  when  they  arrived  at  Judge  Web- 


190  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ster's  house,  "  Come,  let  us  give  our  horses  some  oats, 
and  go  in  and  hear  little  Dan  read  a  Psalm. "  They 
always  called  for  him ;  and,  leaning  upon  their  long 
whip-stocks,  listened  with  delighted  attention  to  the 
elocution  of  the  young  orator. 

Yours,  truly. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER   A  BOY OUT-DOOR   SPORTS FIRST   TIME    HE   READ 

THE   CONSTITUTION    OF   TIIE    UNITED   STATES. 

ELMS  FAUH,  N.  H.,  Oct.  —  1849. 

Mr.  Webster  did  not,  of  course,  go  to  school  every 
day.  He  had  a  due  regard  for  that  old  saying  :  "  All 
work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy."  There 
were  Saturday  afternoons,  holidays,  and  occasional 
pretty  long  vacations,  which  he  hailed  with  delight — 
and  he  frequently  took  a  holiday,  as  all  boys  will,  on 
his  own  account.  On  these  occasions  he  entered 
zealously  into  all  kinds  of  out-door  amusements.  Be 
sides  he  did  boy's  work  on  his  father's  farm. 

He  rode  the  horse  in  plowing  furrows  between 
rows  of  corn ;  he  raked  the  hay,  followed  the  reapers 
and  bound  up  the  wheat  as  they  cut  it ;  he  drove  the 
cows  to  their  pastures  in  the  morning  and  home  again 
at  night.  No  little  hands  or  little  feet  could  accom 
plish  more  than  his  in  any  thing  not  beyond  his  strength. 
I  have  to-day  conversed  with  an  old  farmer  who,  in 
his  boyhood,  labored  with  him  in  the  field  many  a 
day. 

During  the  season  for  "  haying  and  harvesting, " 
Daniel  always  staid  from  school,  as  a  matter  of  course, 


OUT-DOOR    SPORTS.  191 


and  went  into  the  fields  with  the  men  to  do  what  he 
could  to  gather  in  the  crops,  for  the  hay  was  to  be 
made  while  the  sun  shone,  and  the  grain  was  to  be 
cut  when  it  was  ripe.  With  his  straw  hat,  his  i:  tow 
frock  and  trowsers,"  his  rake  or  sickle  in  hand,  he 
worked  from  morning  till  night,  and  never  was  heard 
to  complain.  He  shrunk  not  from  industry  when  it 
was  apparent  it  could  be  turned  to  a  good  account.  . 

He  obtained,  by  working  on  the  farm,  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  agricultural  business,  and  the  taste  ac 
quired  for  it  then  has  continued,  and  is  now  his 
strongest  passion.  In  these  fertile  fields,  beneath 
these  elms,  he  imbibed  his  first  ideas  of  farming, 
which  have  ripened  into  a  knowledge  not  surpassed 
by  any  agriculturist  of  the  age  in  which  he  lives. 

In  his  great  speech  on  "  The  Agriculture  of  Eng 
land."  at  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts,  and  others  interested,  at  the  State 
House,  in  Boston,  January  13th,  1840,  he  began  by 
stating  that  "  he  regarded  agriculture  as  the  hading 
interest  of  society ;  and  as  having  in  all  its  relations, 
a  direct  and  intimate  bearing  upon  human  comfort 
and  national  prosperity.  He  had  been  familiar  with 
its  operations  in  his  youth,  and  he  had  always  looked 
upon  the  subject  with  a  lively  and  deep  interest." 
His  speeches  in  England  and  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  all 
confirm  what  I  have  said. 

He  had  a  strong  propensity  for  out-door  recrea 
tions  at  that  early  period  of  his  life,  and  he  has  culti 
vated  it  from,  that  day  to  this.  No  man  in  the  coun 
try  is  more  fond  of  fishing,  hunting,  sailing,  riding,  or 
driving,  than  Mr.  Webster.  He  has  not  the  least 


192  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

taste  or  fondness  for  in-door  amusements.  He  never 
played  a  game  of  chess  or  checkers  in  his  life ;  nor 
billiards,  nor  ten-pins.  He  never  played,  and  it  is 
said,  does  not  know,  a  game  of  cards,  besides  whist,  a 
game  which  he  will  play  with  ladies  or  gentlemen  in 
the  evening,  before  his  early  hour  for  retiring.  His 
passion  is.  and  always  was,  for  out-door  recreations.  To 
this  he  is  unquestionably  much  indebted  for  the  robust 
constitution  he  established  on  arriving  at  manhood, 
and  which  he  has  sustained  throughout  his  career. 
In  his  childhood  and  youth  he  was  not  robust,  but  on 
the  contrary,  he  had  what  was  regarded  a  feeble  con 
stitution.  He  appeared  like  a  youth  inclined  to  con 
sumption. 

I  went  to-day  to  some  of  the  places  where  he  in 
dulged  his  propensity  for  out-door  amusements.  A 
quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the  site  of  the  old  school- 
house,  is  the  hill  where  he  so  often  went  to  slide.  My 
informant,  an  aged  lady,  says,  that  in  the  coldest  of 
the  weather,  the  little  fellow  could  be  seen  trudging 
along  through  the  snow  with  his  sled,  to  join  Deacon 
True's  boys,  and  others,  in  the  exciting  but  toilsome 
sport  of  sliding  down  hill. 

At  times  the  snow  covered  up  the  fences,  and  left 
nothing  to  intercept  his  descent  from  the  top  of  the 
hill  to  the  current  of  the  Merrimack.  So  intent  was 
his  mind  on  this  sport,  and  so  regardless  of  the  cold 
ness  of  the  weather  on  one  occasion,  that  the  toes  of 
both  his  feet  were  frozen,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
suffer  the  privations  of  being  confined  to  the  house, 
too  lame  to  walk.  He  used  to  say  "  there  was  great 
fun  in  sliding  down  hill,  but  there  was  not  much  fun 


OUT-DOOR    SPORTS.  193 


in  hearing  his  father  scold  when  he  stayed  out  of 
school  to  enjoy  it." 

I  went  also  to  the  pond  where  in  the  summer 
time  he  used  to  bathe,  where  he  learned  the  art  of 
swimming,  and  where,  in  the  winter-time,  the  water 
being  frozen,  he  indulged  in  skating.  No  one  of  his 
years  could  excel  him  in  either  art.  These  were 
both  invigorating  exercises,  and  not  only  afforded 
him  great  amusement,  but  trained  his  physical  ener 
gies  for  subsequent  labor,  which,  without  it,  would 
have  broke  down  many  a  more  robust  frame. 

He  had  a  passion  for  fishing,  and  it  was  perhaps 
as  strong  in  him  naturally  as  it  was  in  old  Izaak 
"Walton.  I  went,  to-day,  to  see  the  four  brooks  in 
which  he  indulged  this  propensity  whenever  he  had 
an  opportunity.  The  name  of  one  is  Punch  Brook, 
of  which  I  spoke  in  a  former  letter,  of  another  Mid 
dle  Brook,  of  another  Stirrup  Iron  Brook,  of  the 
fourth  Wigwag  Brook.  They  were  all  very  near. 
In  days  of  yore,  these  brooks  were  famous  for  trout 
fishing,  and  he  knew  every  hole,  every  lurking-place, 
in  which  these  speckled  beauties  were  found,  between 
their  entrance  into  the  river,  and  the  fountains  whence 
they  flowed.  With  his  rude  fishing-rod  cut  from  the 
bushes,  his  lines  made  of  horse-hair,  than  which  no 
better  have  since  been  contrived,  and  his  hooks  bought 
of  pedlers,  as  soon  as  dismissed  from  school,  or  re 
leased  from  the  task  his  father  gave  him  to  perform, 
he  went  to  trace  those  streams,  and  it  was  rare  in 
deed  that  he  ever  returned  without  being  heavily 
laden  with  the  trophies  of  his  skill  and  patience. 
His  skill  in  shooting,  which  in  subsequent  life  has 
9 


194  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

rendered  him  famous  as  a  good  shot,  was  early  ac 
quired,  and  all  along  this  valley,  up  the  glens  and  on 
the  mountain  sides,  he  delighted  to  roam,  with  his 
dog  and  gun,  in  pursuit  of  game.  Tradition  points 
out  several  places  where  his  eminent  skill  was  dis 
played,  and  although  it  is  not  said  of  him,  as  it  was 
of  the  famous  shot,  Captain  Scott,  viz.,  that  all  the 
raccoons  and  squirrels  on  seeing  him  in  pursuit  of 
them,  invariably  told  the  Captain  that  he  need  not 
take  the  trouble  to  fire  at  them,  for  they  were  as  good 
as  dead,  and  would  come  down  to  meet  him  at  the 
foot  of  each  tree,  yet  enough  is  said  to  prove  that 
those  animals  might  have  told  Mr.  Webster  a  similar 
tale.  He  never  missed  them. 

His  father  was  very  strict  in  all  religious  observ 
ances,  and  required,  among  other  things,  that  his  son 
should  go  every  Sunday  to  Church,  though  the  dis 
tance  was  about  four  miles.  Mr.  Webster  complain 
ed  of  the  hardship,  for  he  must  needs  walk  all  the 
way.  His  father  said  to  him : 

"  I  see  Deacon  True's  boys  there  every  Sunday 
regularly,  and  have  never  heard  of  their  complaining." 

"  Ah !  but,"  said  Daniel,  "  Deacon  True's  boys 
live  half  the  way  there,  and,  of  course,  have  only  half 
as  far  to  walk." 

"  Well,"  said  his  father,  "  you  may  get  up  in  the 
morning,  dress  yourself,  and  run  up  to  Deacon  True's, 
and  go  with  them ;  then  you  will  have  no  farther  to 
walk  than  they  do." 

The  logic  of  his  father  was  conclusive ;  for  he 
never  considered  it  a  hardship  to  be  permitted  to  run 
up  to  Deacon  True's,  to  play  with  his  boys,  and  that 


OUT-DOOR    SPORTS.  195 


the  hardships,  if  any,  lay  beyond  the  Deacon's  resi 
dence.  On  every  good  old  New  England  Sabbath, 
therefore,  when  the  weather  would  permit  him,  Mr. 
Webster  was  found  at  church,  notwithstanding  the 
distance. 

Mr.  Webster  himself  told  me  the  following  anec 
dote  of  a  bit  of  fun.  When  he  was  about  ten  years 
of  age,  as  a  great  favor  his  mother  gave  him  half  a 
dollar  and  permission  to  visit  one  of  his  aunts,  dis 
tant  some  ten  miles  beyond  this  place.  Accordingly 
he  set  forth  the  next  morning  early,  and  made  the 
journey  on  foot.  His  purpose  was  to  spend  several 
days.  On  arriving  at  his  place  of  destination,  the 
first  important  object  that  arrested  his  attention  was 
a  splendid  fighting-cock,  strutting  and  crowing  in  the 
barn-yard.  He  scanned  his  apparent  powers  with  se 
cret  but  delightful  anticipations,  for  one  of  his  neigh 
bors  had  a  conquering  rooster,  against  which  he  held 
a  grudge,  and  which  was  the  terror  of  every  cock  in 
this  vicinity.  As  soon  as  he  had  passed  the  usual 
salutations  with  his  aunt,  who  was  of  course  delighted 
to  see  him,  he  began  to  negotiate  for  the  purchase  of 
the  game-cock.  It  resulted  in  his  becoming  the 
owner  of  the  bird  for  the  said  half  dollar,  all  he  had, 
which  he  promptly  paid.  During  the  night  his  anti 
cipations  and  his  impatience  for  morning  to  come 
were  so  great  he  could  scarcely  sleep  a  wink,  tired  as 
he  was.  At  an  early  hour  he  was  up  and  had  his 
game-cock  safely  in  his  possession.  No  entreaties  on 
the  part  of  his  aunt  could  induce  him  to  stay  a  mo 
ment  after  he  had  had  his  breakfast. 

the  rooster  in  his  arms,  he  set  out  for  home. 


196  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

On  his  return,  he  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he 
passed  a  barn-yard  filled  with  hens,  among  which,  he 
spied  a  cock  manifesting  his  fighting  propensities. 
On  seeing  what  he  held  in  his  arms,  the  cock  on  his 
own  ground,  gave  the  usual  challenge  for  a  battle. 
No  sooner  intimated  than  done,  down  went  this 
champion  in  the  midst  of  the  flock,  and  the  sparring 
commenced.  The  battle  was  bravely  fought  on  both 
sides.  No  lovers  of  cock-fighting  ever  saw  a  more 
satisfactory  contest.  But  the  challenging  party  bit 
the  dust. 

My  game  cock,  said  he,  stood  over  his  prostrate 
foe,  and  flapping  his  wings,  crowed  his  victory. 
Thereupon  he  took  his  hero  in  his  arms  and  again 
trudged  on  his  way.  In  the  course  of  the  next  mile 
he  came  to  another  yard.  Here  he  displayed  his 
champion,  he  was  challenged,  gave  battle,  and  came 
off  victorious  as  before,  and  came  near  having  a  bat 
tle  with  another  boy  of  his  age.  Thus  he  journeyed 
on,  giving  battle  at  every  barn-yard  he  passed  where 
a  cock  would  fight,  always  triumphant.  At  length 
he  reached  the  yard  of  his  neighbor  who  owned  the 
cock  against  which  he  had  the  grudge.  The  day 
was  well-nigh  spent.  His  rooster  had  fought  several 
times.  He  doubted  the  policy  of  letting  him  fight 
the  most  important  battle  under  such  circumstances, 
but  being  impatient,  and  seeing  that  his  hero  seemed 
fresh,  for  he  had  carried  him  in  his  arms,  and  inas 
much,  as  on  seeing  his  antagonist,  he  seemed  fierce 
for  the  fight,  he  let  him  slip. 

The  battle  began.  For  a  while  the  contest  was 
an  even  one ;  but  in  ten  minutes  he  had  the  s^atisfac- 


OUT-DOOR    SPORTS.  197 

tion  of  seeing  his  hero  victorious.  He  also  saw  the 
cock  against  which  he  had  the  grudge  and  which  had 
again  and  again  driven  his  own  fowls  from  his  own 
yard,  led  about  by  the  comb  in  a  manner  as  degrad 
ing  as  the  old  Romans  led  their  conquered  foes  while 
celebrating  their  triumphs  of  arms.  "Wellington, 
after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  was  not  better  satisfied 
with  the  results  of  the  day  than  he  was  with  the  re 
sults  of  his  day. 

On  the  left  hand  going  towards  the  more  settled 
part  of  the  town  of  Salisbury,  known  as  the  Northern 
Road,  on  Punch  Brook,  stands  an  old  saw  mill,  where 
Mr.  Webster's  father,  more  than  sixty  years  ago, 
built  himself  a  rude-looking  mill.  The  place  is  a 
dark  glen,  and  was  then  surrounded  by  a  majestic 
forest,  which  covered  the  neighboring  hills.  The 
mill  was  a  source  of  income  to  Colonel  Webster,  and 
he  kept  it  in  operation  till  near  the  end  of  his  life. 
To  that  mill,  Mr.  Webster,  though  a  small  boy,  went 
frequently,  when  not  in  school,  to  assist  his  father  in 
sawing  boards.  He  was  apt  in  learning  anything 
useful,  and  soon  became  so  expert  in  doing  every 
thing  required,  that  his  services  as  an  assistant  were 
valuable.  Hence,  the  reason  for  his  being  employed 
there  when  not  absolutely  required  elsewhere.  But 
his  time  was  not  misspent  or  misapplied.  After  "  set 
ting  the  saw"  and  "hoisting  the  gate,"  and  while  the 
saw  was  passing  through  the  log,  which  usually  occu 
pied  from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  for  each  board,  Dan 
iel  was  reading  attentively  some  book  he  was  per 
mitted  to  take  from  the  house.  He  had  a  passion 
thus  early  for  reading  histories  and  biographies. 


198  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

There  (let  it  be  mentioned  to  his  credit),  in  that 
old  saw  mill,  surrounded  by  forests,  in  the  midst  of 
the  great  noise  which  such  a  mill  makes,  and  this,  too, 
without  materially  neglecting  his  task,  he  made  him 
self  familiar  with  the  most  remarkable  events  recorded 
by  the  pen  of  history,  and  with  the  lives  and  charac 
ters  of  the  most  celebrated  persons  who  had  lived  in 
the  tides  of  time.  He  has  never  forgotten  what  he 
read  there.  So  tenacious  is  his  memory,  that  he  can 
recite  long  passages  from  the  old  books  which  he 
read  there,  and  has  scarcely  looked  at  since.  The 
solitude  of  the  scene,  the  absence  of  everything  to  di 
vert  his  attention,  the  simplicity  of  his  occupation, 
the  taciturn  and  thoughtful  manner  of  his  father,  all 
favored  the  process  of  transplanting  every  idea  found 
in  those  books  to  his  own  fresh,  fruitful  and  vigorous 
mind.  I  have  not  made  a  visit  to  any  of  the  scenes 
of  Mr.  Webster's  boyhood,  more  interesting  than  this 
old  mill.  The  Academy  of  Science,  his  alma  mater, 
is  not  invested  with  more  interest ;  no,  not  half  so 
much. 

Mr.  Webster  related  to  me  the  following  interest 
ing  anecdote  which  had  some  influence  on  his  after 
life. 

After  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had 
been  adopted  by  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  had 
gone  into  operation,  of  course  its  good  results  were 
apparent,  and  the  people  began  to  read  and  venerate 
it.  It  was  printed  in  all  forms  and  widely  circulated. 
But  the  first  time  that  he  saw  it,  he  found  it  printed 
at  length  on  some  fine  cotton  handkerchiefs  for  sale 
at  a  neighboring  store.  He  paid  all  the  money  in  his 


FIRST    TIME    HE    READ    THE    U.  S.  CONSTITUTION.    199 

purse  for  one  handkerchief,  and  carried  it  home.  On 
the  same  afternoon  he  sat  under  the  shade  of  the  old 
elm  tree,  near  his  father's  house,  and  read  and  re-read 
that  wonderful  work  of  man.  Considering  the  fact 
that  to  him  more  than  to  any  other  man,  living  or 
dead,  is  due  the  credit  of  being  its  ablest,  its  most 
zealous,  and  most  constant  defender,  is  there  not 
much  importance  attached  to  the  place  where  Mr. 
Webster  first  read  the  Constitution  ? 

As  I  was  to-day  standing  on  the  identical  spot, 
I  could  see  him  in  my  mind's  eye.  There  he  sat, 
beneath  the  wide-spreading  branches  of  that  old  tree, 
on  a  rude  bench,  with  the  handkerchief  spread  out 
in  his  lap,  poring  over  its  wisdom,  drinking  in  ideas 
which  for  more  than  half  a  century  have  been  shin 
ing  lights,  guiding  the  footpaths  of  his  countrymen 
through  paths  beset  with  perils,  of  which  the  history 
of  the  world  furnishes  no  parallels.  Fortunate 
incident ! 

I  take  the  following  anecdote  from  the  letter  to 
which  I  have  before  alluded  and  given  to  me  for  this 
purpose. 

"  Of  a  hot  day  in  July — it  must  have  been  one 
of  the  last  years  of  Washington's  administration,  I 
was  making  hay  with  my  father,  just  where  I  now  see 
a  remaining  elm-tree,  about  the  middle  of  the  after 
noon.  The  Hon.  Abiel  Foster,  M.  C.,  who  lived  in 
Canterbury,  six  miles  off,  called  at  the  house,  and 
came  into  the  field  to  see  my  father.  He  was  a 
worthy  man,  college  learned,  and  had  been  a  minis 
ter,  but  was  not  a  person  of  any  considerable  natural 
powers.  My  father  was  his  friend  and  supporter. 


200  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

He  talked  awhile  in  the  field  and  went  on  his  way. 
When  he  was  gone,  my  father  called  me  to  him,  and 
we  sat  down  beneath  the  elm,  on  a  haycock.  He 
said,  '  My  son  that  is  a  worthy  man — he  is  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress — he  goes  to  Philadelphia,  and  gets 
six  dollars  a  day,  while  I  toil  here.  It  is  because  he 
had  an  education,  which  I  never  had.  If  I  had  had 
his  early  education  I  should  have  been  in  Philadel 
phia  in  his  place.  I  came  near  it,  as  it  was.  But  I 
missed  it,  and  now  I  must  work  here.'  '  My  dear 
father,'  said  I,  '  you  shall  not  work.  Brother  and  I 
will  work  for  you,  and  wear  our  hands  out,  and  you 
shall  rest' — and  I  remember  to  have  cried, — and  I 
cry  now,  at  the  recollection.  '  My  child,'  said  he, 
'  it  is  of  no  importance  to  me — I  now  live  but  for  my 
children ;  I  could  not  give  your  elder  brother  the 
advantages  of  knowledge,  but  I  can  do  something 
for  you.  Exert  yourself — improve  your  opportunities 
— learn — learn — and  when  I  am  gone,  you  will  not 
need  to  go  through  the  hardships  which  I  have  under 
gone,  and  which  have  made  me  an  old  man  before 
my  time." 

Yours  truly, 


THOS.    W.    THOMPSON LAW-OFFICE LATIN     GRAMMAR REASONS 

FOR  GOING  TO  AN    ACADEMY GOES  TO  EXETER DR.  ABBOTT. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  II.,  September,  1849. 
In  the  year  1791,  there  came  to  reside  in  this  town 
a  young  lawyer  by  the  name  of  Thomas  W.  Thomp 
son,  who  opened  an  office  a  short  distance  from  this. 


LATIN    GRAMMAR.  201 


and  boarded  with  Col.  Webster's  family.     I  will  tell 
you  more  about  this  gentleman  in  another  letter. 

In  1795,  Mr.  Thompson,  having  no  students  or 
clerks,  and  being  often  away  on  business,  induced 
Daniel  to  stay  in  his  office  while  he  was  absent,  to 
tell  his  clients,  and  those  who  called,  where  he  had 
gone  and  when  he  would  be  home.  He  was  then  in 
his  thirteenth  year.  Mr.  Thompson  gave  him  a  Latin 
grammar,  which  he  committed  to  memory.  He  had 
no  object  in  learning  it  except  to  gratify  Mr.  Thomp 
son.  He  had  never  dreamed  of  studying  Latin  or 
Greek,  or  of  going  to  college,  nor  had  his  father 
thought  of  any  such  thing.  Daniel  expected  to  fol 
low  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  and  elder  brothers, 
to  cultivate  the  soil,  and,  while  a  boy,  to  obtain  what 
was  termed  a  good  common  school  education,  that  he 
might  be  respected  as  a  man.  Nobody  had  yet  dis 
covered  the  giant  intellect  God  had  bestowed  upon 
him.  unless,  perhaps,  his  devoted  mother.  But  the 
facility  with  which  he  learned  the  Latin  Grammar, 
and  the  tenacity  of  his  memory,  arrested  the  attention 
of  Mr.  Thompson,  who  spoke  of  it  to  Col.  Webster. 
In  the  Spring  of  1 796,  the  idea  of  sending  him  to  an 
academy  to  qualify  him  to  be  a  school  teacher,  was 
entertained  by  his  father.  Mr.  Thompson  advised  it, 
and  his  mother  urged  it.  His  brother  Joseph,  who 
had  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood,  favored  his  going, 
by  way  of  the  joke  which  I  related  to  you  in  a  pre 
vious  letter.  He  said,  inasmuch  as  Daniel  was  not 
as  smart  by  nature  as  the  other  members  of  the 
family,  he  hoped  his  father  would  send  him  to  an 
academy,  so  that  with  the  advantages  it  would  give 
9* 


202  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEfiSTEtt* 

him,  he  would  be  equal  to  his  brothers  and  sisters ;  or, 
to  use  his  own  words,  i:  know  as  much  as  the  rest  of 
them," 

The  fact  that  Daniel  had  what  was  regarded 
a  slender  constitution,  was  thrown  into  the  scale  to 
favor  the  idea  of  his  going  to  school,  to  qualify  himself 
for  doing  some  less  laborious  work  than  that  of  the 
farm. 

To  send  one  of  ten  children  away  to  an  academy, 
perhaps  at  the  expense  of  the  others,  was,  in  the  eye 
of  Col.  Webster,  a  partiality.  He  hesitated  in  tak 
ing  such  a  step,  indeed,  he  doubted  whether  it  would 
promote  either  Daniel's  happiness  or  prosperity. 
There  have  been  many  instances  in  which  fathers 
have  reasoned  thus.  He  could  not  of  course  foresee 
the  great  results  that  followed.  But  considering 
what  was  said  by  Mr.  Thompson  about  his  capacity 
for  learning,  and  taking  into  account  the  young  man's 
constitution,  Col.  Webster  finally  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  it  would  be  well  for  Daniel  to  qualify 
himself  as  a  schoolmaster.  He  could  in  that  case  work 
on  the  farm  during  the  summer  months,  and  in  the 
cold  winter  season  when  his  health  would  not  permit 
him  to  work  out  of  doors,  he  could  teach  a  school. 
Other  young  men  had  done  as  much  in  this  vicinity, 
and  the  experiment  had  proved  profitable  so  far  as 
the  cost  of  them  was  concerned,  and  above  all  highly 
advantageous  to  the  young  men  themselves.  These 
considerations  induced  his  prudent  father  to  send  him 
to  the  academy ;  ninety-nine  of  every  hundred  would 
have  reasoned  like  him.  Could  the  book  of  the 
future  have  been  opened  to  him  when  he  resolved  to 


GOES    TO    EXETER.  203 


place  his  son  on  the  road  to  fame,  how  the  vision 
would  have  stirred  his  heart !  When  his  father's 
judgment  was  once  convinced,  he  never  drew  back 
from  his  purposes.  He  was  a  just  and  excellent  man. 

On  the  24th  May,  1796,  on  a  bright  and  sunny 
day,  Mr.  Webster  set  out  for  Phillips'  Academy,  in 
Exeter,  in  the  County  of  Rockingham,  in  this  State. 
He  was  a  small  boy  for  one  of  his  age.  At  that  time, 
there  were  few,  if  any,  light  carriages  in  this  part  of 
the  State,  and  the  roads,  in  all  directions,  were  bad ; 
most  of  the  travelling,  for  any  considerable  distance, 
was  done  on  horseback.  One  of  the  neighbors  wished 
to  send  a  horse  and  side-saddle  to  Exeter  for  a  lady 
to  ride  to  this  place.  He  availed  himself  of  this 
opportunity.  Col.  Webster  mounted  his  own  horse, 
and  Daniel,  dressed  in  his  new  homemade  suit,  mounted 
the  horse  with  the  side-saddle.  They  journeyed  on 
slowly,  down  the  Merrimack  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sun 
Cook  River,  and  then  up  its  valley  to  Allenstown, 
where  they  stayed  the  first  night.  Although  the 
distance  was  not  great,  yet  the  little  fellow,  unaccus 
tomed  to  riding  far,  was  tired  enough.  The  next 
day,  refreshed  by  sleep,  they  set  out  again,  and  con 
tinued  their  journey  as  far  as  the  town  of  Poplin, 
where  they  stayed  the  second  night.  Mr.  Webster 
had  never  been  so  far  from  home  before.  The  third 
day  they  reached  their  place  of  destination,  long  be 
fore  night. 

Although  his  father  was  born  at  Kingston,  six 
miles  distant,  yet  there  were  but  two  or  three  persons 
in  Exeter  whom  he  knew.  One  was  a  Mr.  Cass,  the 
father  of  his  Excellency,  Governor  Cass.  Another 


204  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

was  a  Mr.  Clifford.  With  the  latter,  Col.  Webster 
procured  a  place  for  Daniel  to  board,  so  that  he  took 
his  lodging  there  the  third  night.  The  next  day,  he 
went  with  his  father  to  the  academy  to  apply  for 
admission.  Benjamin  Abbott,  LL.  D.,  was  then  at 
the  head  of  the  academy.  He  felt  and  carefully 
maintained  the  dignity  and  importance  of  his  posi 
tion.  To  him,  of  course,  the  application  for  admis 
sion  was  made.  The  learned  Doctor,  then  a  young 
man,  was  seated  in  the  great  hall.  He  always  did 
every  thing  official  with  pompous  ceremony. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  he,  putting  on  his  cocked  hat, 
"  let  the  young  gentleman  be  presented  for  examina 
tion." 

Mr.  Webster,  with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  modestly 
advanced,  and  stood  before  him.  He  was  in  a  strange 
place,  and  strangers  were  around  him,  but  he  was 
self-possessed.  It  is  his  nature  to  be  self-possessed. 

"What  is  your  age?" 

"  Fourteen." 

"  Take  this  Bible,  my  lad,  and  read  that  chapter." 

The  chapter  given  him  to  read  was  22d  chapter, 
Gospel  according  to  St.  Luke.  A  description  of  the 
conspiring  of  the  Jews,  the  betrayal  of  Christ  by 
Judas,  the  denial  by  Peter,  &c.  Daniel  took  the 
book,  and  read  in  a  clear  tone,  with  due  emphasis,  as 
he  had  been  taught  by  his  father  to  read.  He  was 
equal  to  the  occasion.  He  was  able  to  concentrate 
his  mind  on  the  matter,  and  to  control  his  manner. 
The  Doctor  listened  with  astonishment ;  and,  as  the 
young  man  before  him  proceeded,  giving  full  effect  to 
every  word  of  that  beautiful  narration,  he  seemed  in 


DR.    ABBOTT.  205 


a  trance,  and  never  interrupted  him.  He  read  to  the 
end.  Such  a  trial  would  have  been  severe  for  most 
boys,  but  in  that  exercise  Daniel  was  perfectly  at 
home.  He  shut  up  the  book  and  handed  it  to  Dr. 
Abbott,  who  asked  him  no  more  questions. 

"  Young  man,"  said  he,  "you  are  qualified  to  en 
ter  this  institution." 

He  had  never  before  heard  the  chapter  better 
read. 

That  school  was  founded  in  1781,  by  one  John 
Phillips,  LL.  D. ;  hence  its  name.  He  made  it  lib 
eral  donations;  $100.000  during  his  life,  and  at  his 
death  $50,000  more :  and  it  had  already  acquired 
a  high  reputation.  It  was  regarded  as  the  best  lite 
rary  and  scientific  institution  in  the  State.  In  1795, 
the  year  before  Daniel  went  there,  Dr.  Phillips  had 
died,  bequeathing  to  it  a  large  portion  of  his  wealth. 
This  raised  it  almost  to  the  importance  of  a  college. 
The  building  stood  on  a  plain  near  the  centre  of  the 
town,  and  it  was  well  provided  with  accommodations 
for  the  different  branches  of  instruction.  Among 
other  advantages  it  possessed  was  a  large  hall  for 
declamation  and  the  annual  exhibitions.  The  insti 
tution  was  endowed  with  a  salary  for  the  Principal, 
and  a  salary  for  a  Professorship  besides".  Phillips 
had  made  it  independent. 

This  venerable  man  (Dr.  Abbott)  retired  from 
the  head  of  this  institution  in  1839,  having  presided 
over  it  for  fifty  years,  and  having,  for  a  considerable 
time  before  his  promotion  to  the  place  of  Principal, 
been  engaged  in  the  humblest  ranks  of  instruction. 
He  has  been,  in  fact,  a  schoolmaster  of  sixty  years 


206  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

standing.  He  has  withdrawn  to  the  repose  of  his 
family,  after  an  amount  of  labor  and  usefulness  which 
has  no  parallel  among  the  teachers  of  this  country. 
The  endowment  of  this  Academy,  and  the  respect 
ability  of  its  corps  of  teachers,  placed  it  on  a  par 
with  not  a  few  American  Colleges ;  and  it  was  for 
many  years  without  a  rival  as  a  school  of  preparation 
for  College.  A  thorough  English  education  was  fur 
nished  by  it  to  those  who  were  not  seeking  for  clas 
sical  attainments.  Other  schools  and  academies  have 
since  sprung  up  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  which 
may  have  diminished  the  relative  importance  of  this, 
but  without  affecting  the  merits  of  the  faithful  men 
who  have  maintained  its  repute,  and  have  given  so 
useful  an  impulse  to  the  general  cause  of  public  edu 
cation. 

Among  the  three  thousand  boys  who  have  been 
also  taught  by  Dr.  Abbott,  at  that  School,  are  Lewis 
Cass,  Levi  Woodbury,  Alexander  H.  and  Edward 
Everett,  Jared  Sparks,  George  Bancroft,  Henry 
Ware,  Jr.,  John  Gr.  Palfrey,  John  A.  Dix,  and 
Joseph  S.  Buckminster — all  eminent  men,  who  have 
made  their  mark  on  the  time.  The  Doctor  possessed, 
in  a  high  degree,  those  personal  qualifications  of  a 
teacher,  which,  in  all  countries,  and  under  all  systems 
of  education,  constitute  the  most  important — the  in 
dispensable  requisites  for  success.  In  these  qualifi 
cations  Dr.  Abbott  stands  pre-eminent.  He  is  a  tho 
rough  classical  scholar — an  expert  in  all  the  branches 
which  he  assumes  to  teach.  He  has  that  self-knowledge 
which  gave  him  a  ready  intuition  of  the  modes  of 
thought  and  the  springs  of  action  in  other  minds, 


DR.    ABBOTT.  207 


especially  those  of  the  young,  upon  whom  he  is  exert 
ing  his  influence. 

No  one  is  better  versed  than  himself  in  that  diffi 
cult  subject,  "  the  human  nature  of  boys,"  the  want 
of  which  knowledge  has  disabled  so  many  eminent 
men  (even  in  some  of  our  Universities)  from  the  effi 
cient  performance  of  the  functions  of  a  teacher. 

It  is  said  of  him,  by  one  who  knew  him  well,  that 
by  this  happy  degree  of  self-knowledge,  and  conse 
quent  power  of  adjustment  to  the  capacities  and  ten 
dencies  of  youthful  minds,  Dr.  Abbott  was  always 
able  to  engage  their  attention,  and  to  communicate 
with  facility  the  desired  instruction  ;  a  practical  art, 
for  which  the  highest  accomplishments,  and  the  most 
earnest  and  praiseworthy  diligence  can  never  be  sub 
stituted  with  due  effect  in  producing  the  best  fruits 
of  education.  The  strict  order  and  application  to 
study,  which  mark  the  department  of  the  efficient 
teacher,  never  failed  to  be  visible  under  the  adminis 
tration  of  Dr.  Abbott,  who  secured  obedience  and  di 
ligence  by  his  sincerity  and  straightforwardness  of 
purpose,  dignity  of  manners  and  regularity  of  system ; 
while  his  constant  aim  was  to  cultivate  the  better 
feelings  of  his  pupils,  to  inspire  them  with  self-re 
spect  and  a  love  of  truth,  and  to  incite  them  to  the 
pursuit  of  good  learning  for  its  own  sake.  Mr.  Web 
ster  and  those  above-named,  in  common  with  all  who 
wished  to  succeed,  felt  that  no  rules  could  be  broken 
without  detriment  to  themselves,  even  if  there  were  a 
chance  for  impunity  ;  and  that,  under  so  considerate, 
just,  and  kind  a  teacher,  no  requisitions  would  be 
imposed  that  were  not  designed  for  the  general  good. 


208  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Submission  was  thus  rendered  easy  without  being 
servile ;  and  to  offend  was  not  only  regarded  as  a 
breach  of  law,  but  of  an  honorable  confidence  reposed 
in  them  by  one  who  was  more  grieved  than  offended 
at  their  faults,  and  whose  highest  satisfaction  was  in 
their  progress  and  success. 

Mr.  Webster  remained  at  that  Academy  only 
nine  months.  He  gave  his  attention  chiefly  to  the 
English  branches,  viz.,  grammar,  arithmetic,  geog 
raphy,  and  rhetoric  ;  but  he  incidentally  pursued  the 
study  of  the  Latin  language.  His  success  in  all  was 
such  as  to  excite  the  highest  admiration  of  Mr.  Ab 
bott.  Having  discovered  in  the  very  outset  the  ca 
pacity  of  the  young  gentleman,  he  gave  him  full 
scope,  and  brought  him  forward  as  rapidly  as  he 
could.  When  Mr.  Webster  left  that  school,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  he  understood  the  English  and  the 
Latin  languages. 

He  had  responded  to  the  weekly  call  for  a  compo 
sition  in  writing,  "  but  he  could  not  make  a  speech." 
On  this  subject  he  says  of  himself,  in  a  short  memoir 
of  Joseph  S.  Buckminster  :  "  My  first  lessons  in  Latin 
were  directed  by  Joseph  Stevens  Buckminster,  at  that 
time  an  Assistant  at  the  Academy.  I  made  tolera 
ble  progress  in  all  the  branches  I  attended  under  his 
instruction,  but  there  was  one  thing  I  could  not  do  ; 
I  could  not  make  a  declamation — I  could  not  speak 
before  the  school.  The  kind  and  excellent  Buck 
minster  especially  sought  to  persuade  me  to  perform 
the  exercise  of  declamation,  like  other  boys,  but  I 
could  not  do  it.  Many  a  piece  did  I  commit  to  mem 
ory,  and  rehearse  in  my  own  room,  over  and  over 


DR.    ABBOTT.  209 


again ;  but  when  the  day  came,  when  the  school  col 
lected,  when  my  name  was  called,  and  I  saw  all 
eyes  turned  upon  my  seat,  I  could  not  raise  myself 
from  it.  Sometimes  the  masters  frowned,  sometimes 
they  smiled.  Mr.  Buckminster  always  pressed  and 
entreated  with  the  most  winning  kindness,  that  I 
would  only  venture  once ;  but  I  could  not  command 
sufficient  resolution  ;  and  when  the  occasion  was  over, 
I  went  home  and  wept  bitter  tears  of  mortification." 

Here,  then,  is  a  striking  fact :  the  man  who,  dur 
ing  the  first  nine  months  at  an  Academy,  though  a 
good  reader,  and  naturally  self-possessed,  could  not 
deliver  a  speech !  and  yet,  afterwards  he  became  the 
greatest  Orator  of  his  time!  Bashful  boys,  take 
courage. 

Dr.  Abbott  still  lives,  and  the  proudest  act  of  his 
life  is  his  teaching  that  boy.  He  talks  with  enthu 
siasm  of  the  exploits  of  his  pupil,  and  Mr.  "Webster 
never  fails  to  express  his  obligations  to  Mr.  Abbott 
for  the  pains  he  took  with  his  education  during  the 
brief  period  it  was  his  happiness  to  be  under  his 
charge. 

The  following  description  of  the  retirement  of 
the  Doctor  in  1839,  you  may  have  seen,  but  I  will 
give  it  in  connection  with  what  I  am  writing.  Hav 
ing  attained  the  age  of  seventy- seven  years,  and  hav 
ing  filled  the  measure  of  his  long  and  faithful  services, 
Dr.  Abbott  announced  his  determination  to  resign 
his  office  at  the  conclusion  of  the  summer  term. 
This  was  to  a  large  number  of  his  pupils,  to  all  whose 
health  or  business  would  permit  their  attendance,  a 
signal  for  a  spontaneous  rally  once  more  around  their 


210  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

venerable  teacher  and  friend,  to  offer  him  a  heartfelt 
tribute  of  gratitude  and  respect.  His  portrait,  paint 
ed  by  Harding  for  this  occasion,  will  faithfully  trans 
mit  the  lineaments  of  his  countenance  to  after  days. 

The  festival  at  Exeter,  near  the  end  of  August 
in  that  year,  surpassed  in  interest  the  previous  bicen 
tennial  celebration  of  the  founding  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  in  1836.  The  dining  hall  selected  for  the 
festival,  was  filled  by  a  long  procession  of  Dr.  Ab 
bott's  former  pupils,  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
on  more  gladdened  by  the  familiar  salutation,  and 
grown  young  again  in  the  presence  of  their  ancient 
instructor  ;  renewing  the  friendships  which  time  had 
interrupted ;  revisiting  the  homes  of  the  hospitable 
inhabitants  which  had  sheltered  their  early  days; 
tracing  once  more  the  scenes  of  their  boyish  sports, 
and  sadly  bidding  farewell  to  friends,  whom  most  of 
them  were  to  see  no  more. 

Political  and  all  other  divisions  were  for  the  time 
forgotten,  as  they  listened  to  the  eloquent  and  ap 
propriate  addresses  of  Mr.  Webster,  E.  Everett,  and 
the  other  speakers  whom  the  occasion  inspired.  All 
eyes  were  directed  toward  the  man  of  the  day.  Dr. 
Abbott  had  prepared  an  address  to  the  assembly. 
They  clustered  about  him  in  breathless  expectation. 
He  arose  to  tender  his  acknowledgments  and  a  part 
ing  benediction.  The  scenes  and  events  of  so  many 
years  came  crowding  upon  his  mind.  His  "boys" 
of  days  long  gone  by,  were  gathered  in  his  presence 
with  every  demonstration  of  the  warmest  attach 
ment.  His  eye  fell  upon  those  whom  he  had  instruct 
ed,  counselled,  guided,  and  for  whom  his  prayers  had 


HE    TEACHES    SCHOOL.  211 

so  often  ascended  to  the  throne  of  mercy.  Some  had 
fallen  asleep.  Perhaps  at  that  moment  of  intense 
emotion  the  image  of  his  lamented  son,  taken  from 
him  in  early  life,  might  have  passed  before  his  mind, 
as  it  glanced  from  the  present  to  the  lost.  Overcome 
by  the  conflict  of  his  emotion,  he  faltered  and  paused. 
His  utterance  was  choked,  his  eyes  were  filled  with 
tears,  and  he  sank  into  his  seat,  wholly  unable  to  pro 
ceed — amid  the  sympathy,  the  enthusiasm,  and  the 
overwhelming  applause  of  the  whole  concourse.  It 
is  difficult  to  describe  a  scene  like  this,  more  eloquent 
than  words,  and  ineffaceable  from  the  memory  of  all 
who  were  present.  It  was  the  index  of  an  honest 
and  true  fame,  more  precious  than  the  richest  patri 
mony  to  his  surviving  relatives. 

It  was  among  the  most  fortunate  events  of  Mr. 
Webster's  life  that  he  had  such  a  teacher  in  the 
outset. 

Yours  truly. 


MR.  WEBSTER  TEACHES   A   SELECT  SCHOOL A  FROLIC REV.  SAMUEL 

WOOD PREPARES    FOR   COLLEGE ENTERS    DARTMOUTH. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 
After  the  return  of  Mr.  Webster  from  Exeter 
Academy  in  February,  1797,  he  was  anxious  to  avail 
himself  of  the  advantages  his  education  gave  him. 
He  was  rather  young  to  teach  a  school,  but  he  felt 
himself  qualified  for  the  task,  and  he  sought  an  op 
portunity.  William  Wirt,  Silas  Wright,  and  an 
army  of  the  first  men  in  this  country,  and 


212  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

cially  in  this  State,  have  pursued  a  similar  course  in 
their  career.  Three-fourths  of  all  the  students  in 
New  Hampshire  teach  school  occasionally,  either 
more  or  less.  Among  his  associates,  and  persons  of 
his  own  age,  a  class  was  formed  for  his  teaching, 
which  occupied  an  apartment  in  the  house  of  his 
uncle,  William  Webster,  on  the  North  Road.  It 
was  for  only  a  short  time  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
winter.  The  class  was  composed  of  boys  and  girls. 
He  gave  them  lessons  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability 
to  learn,  and  he  continued  his  own  studies  at  the 
same  time.  But  it  was  not  "  all  work  and  no  play." 
The  teacher  and  the  pupils  had  many  a  frolic  toge 
ther.  I  will  relate  one  as  a  specimen.  I  give  it  to 
you  as  it  was  told  to  me  to-day  by  one  who  was  one 
of  the  party. 

The  whole  class  and  the  teacher  were  invited  to 
the  farm  of  Captain  Sawyer,  on  which  Mr.  Webster 
was  born,  to  eat  apples  and  drink  cider.  That  farm 
was  famous  for  good  apples  and  other  fruit. 

Entertainments  of  this  kind  were  frequent  among 
the  farmers  in.  Salisbury  at  that  period,  if  not  at  this 
day.  I  dare  say  "  apple  peelings  "  are  not  yet  dis 
continued. 

They  assembled  in  the  school-room  in  the  even 
ing,  a  bright  moonlight  night,  with  fine  sleighing ; 
but  there  were  no  horses  or  sleighs  as  there  are  now, 
for  carrying  large  parties.  They  had  to  resort  to 
another  expedient. 

Daniel's  uncle,  William,  had  a  fine  yoke  of  four- 
year-old  steers,  well  fed,  and  very  fast  walkers.  He 
had  »lso  a  large  sled,  with  an  ample  box  for  a  dozen 


REV.  SAMUEL   WOOD.  213 

such  passengers.  This  team  was  yoked  to  the  sled, 
the  box  filled  with  straw,  and  all  the  party,  bent  on 
enjoying  themselves,  went  "  aboard,"  and  a  glorious 
frolic  they  had  of  it.  Mr.  Webster,  though  the  school 
master,  was  younger  than  many  of  the  pupils.  Their 
relative  positions  were  temporarily  suspended,  and  he 
held  back  nothing  that  he  could  do  or  say  to  enrich 
the  hilarity  of  the  occasion.  The  events  of  that  joy 
ful  evening  will  never  be  forgotten  by  anybody  who 
then  lived  here.  --f- 

But  Mr.  Webster  about  this  time  made  the  ac 
quaintance,  and  secured  the  lasting  and  ardent  friend 
ship  of  Rev.  Samuel  W7ood,  LL.  D.,  of  Boscawen  (a 
place  not  far  off),  who  was,  for  more  than  half  a  cen 
tury,  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  that  town,  and  justly 
distinguished  for  his  learning  and  piety.  I  will  tell 
you  something  about  him.  He  graduated  at  Dart 
mouth  College,  and  at  the  commencement,  in  1779, 
he  delivered  the  valedictory  oration.  Speaking  of 
the  interruption  to  the  progress  of  education  which 
the  Revolution  had  occasioned,  he  spoke  his  sentiments 
on  the  subject  of  education : 

"  How  sad,"  said  he,  "  are  the  consequences  when 
a  people  unite  to  neglect  the  propagation  of  education, 
not  to  mention  the  many  instances  of  the  kind  re 
corded  in  history ;  our  eyes  have  seen,  our  ears  have 
heard,  and  our  fathers  have  told  us,  how  education 
exalted  the  land  of  their  nativity  !  But,  alas  !  those 
halcyon  days  are  over  and  gone  ;  and  we  feel  the  dire 
effects.  Else  what  meaneth  this  din  of  war  in  our 
land,  with  garments  rolled  in  blood, — this  train  of 
Britain's  artillery  put  in  array  against  us  ?  Those 


214  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

lightnings  that  flash  from  her  brazen  batteries,  and 
the  thunders  that  break  from  those  smoky  columns 
with  storms  pregnant  with  leaden  hail,  promiscuous 
instruments  of  death." 

He  was  more  than  a  clergyman  sometimes  is ;  he 
was  a  benefactor,  a  patron  of  learning,  and  a  dispenser 
of  the  blessings  of  education.  I  cannot  speak  too 
highly  of  him.  His  whole  time  and  all  the  means  at 
his  disposal  were  devoted  to  the  happiness  and  pros 
perity  of  the  youth  within  his  reach.  He  believed 
in  and  acted  on  the  principle,  that  the  greatest  good 
man  can  do  his  fellow-man  is  to  make  him  happy. 
He  believed  happiness  attended  learning.  His  soul 
knew  no  bounds. 

His  arms  were  open  to  every  young  man  who  was 
striving  for  an  education.  Every  one,  when  known, 
was  invited  to  share  his  hospitality  and  to  receive 
his  instruction.  It  made  no  difference  to  that  good 
man  whether  he  did  or  did  not  receive  remuneration. 
It  is  said  that  great  numbers  of  young  men  have  re 
ceived  his  tuition,  many  of  whom  have  lived  in  his 
house  gratuitously.  He  has  personally  instructed 
155  pupils  in  his  own  house.  Of  this  number,  105 
entered  college,  from  40  to  50  entered  the  ministry, 
20  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  6  or  7  that  of  me 
dicine.  His  pupils  were  his  only  pride  ;  he  beheld 
among  them  Governors,  and  Councillors  of  State, 
Judges,  and  Members  of  Congress.  But  few  towns, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  have  edu 
cated  more  young  men  than  this  ;  some  of  whom  take 
their  rank  among  the  first  advocates,  not  only  in  this 
State,  but  in  the  United  States.  Their  names  are 


REV.  SAMUEL    WOOD.  215 

as  follows:  Moses  Eastman,  1794;  Moses  Sawyer, 
1799;  Daniel  Webster,  1801;  Ezekiel  Webster, 
Ebenezer  0.  Fifield,  1803  ;  Thomas  H.  Pettingill, 
1804;  Nathaniel  Sawyer,  1805;  John  True,  1806; 
Ichabod  Bartlett,  Valentine  Little,  1808 ;  James 
Bartlett,  Benjamin  Pettingill,  1812;  Joseph  Ward- 
well,  1813;  Charles  B.  Hadduck,  1816;  Benjamin 
Huntoon,  1817;  William  T.  Hadduck,  1819;  Joseph 
B.  Eastman,  1821.  They  all  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College,  with  one  exception.  The  Salisbury  Social 
Library  consists  of  between  three  and  four  hundred 
volumes,  and  annual  additions  are  made  to  it. 

He  saw  the  mighty  talents  that  gleamed  in  young 
Mr.  Webster,  and  at  once  resolved  in  his  own  mind 
that  such  extraordinary  gifts  must  not,  should  not, 
remain  in  obscurity.  At  the  time  Mr.  Webster 
made  his  acquaintance,  Mr.  Wood  was  one  of  the 
trustees  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  was  on  intimate 
terms  with  the  faculty  ;  he  therefore  exerted  himself 
to  get  him  into  that  institution.  He  was  often  at  his 
house  and  at  his  table ;  he  talked  with  that  great 
Dr.  of  Divinity,  and  in  his  presence,  with  his  students 
who  were  preparing  for  college. 

No  young  man  was  ever  more  modest  or  unpre 
tending  than  Mr.  Webster ;  he  had  not  then  dreamed 
of  so  great  an  enterprise,  so  great  an  advantage,  as 
going  through  that  or  any  other  university.  In  his 
mind,  the  thing  was  as  much  beyond  his  reach  as  the 
sky  over  his  head.  He  had  no  vaulting  ambition, 
nor  discontentment  with  his  position,  but  he  loved 
learning  and  the  society  of  learned  men.  Whatever 
came  before  him  he  eagerly  devoured.  No  topic  of 


216  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

interest  could  be  suggested  which  he  was  willing  to 
relinquish  till  he  knew  all  about  it — its  length,  breadth, 
weight  and  depth.  This  was  the  natural  bent  of  his 
mind.  Mr.  Webster  and  his  father  had  conversed 
on  the  subject,  and  Ezekiel  had  been  taking  a  part 
in  the  conversation,  but,  on  the  whole,  the  two  young 
men  thought  it  too  much  to  be  undertaken  by  them. 

Accustomed  as  Dr.  Wood  was  to  measure  the 
capacity  of  young  men,  and  to  estimate  their  relative 
strength,  he  did  not  fail  to  see,  what  his  countrymen 
and  the  whole  world  wherever  civilization  had  gone, 
has  since  seen  and  is  daily  seeing,  viz.,  the  superiority 
of  his  intellect. 

This  reverend  gentleman,  and  Mr.  Abbott  of  the 
Exeter  Academy,  were  intimate  friends.  Both  had 
discovered  the  promising  talents  of  young  Mr.  Web 
ster,  and  both  were  anxious  that  he  should  proceed 
in  his  career,  which  they  foresaw  led  to  eminence. 
With  the  testimony  borne  by  Mr.  Abbott,  Mr.  Wood 
went  to  Col.  Webster,  told  him  their  opinions,  and 
recommended  him  to  send  Mr.  Webster  to  college. 
His  father  took  the  matter  into  consideration,  and 
finally  resolved  to  do  what  was  recommended  by  such 
high  authority.  Mr.  Wood  proposed  to  attend  to  his 
preparatory  studies. 

In  a  narrow  and  quite  secluded  road  which  leads 
from  this  valley  near  the  mouth  of  Stirrup  Iron 
Brook,  towards  the  residence  of  Mr.  Wood,  as  Mr. 
Webster  was  driving  with  his  father  in  a  small  sleigh 
called  a  "  pung,"  he  was  told  for  the  first  time  he 
was  to  be  sent  to  college.  The  announcement  startled 
him,  but  he  eagerly  assented.  In  a  moment  the 


PREPARES    FOR    COLLEGE.  21*7 

mighty  mountain  he  had  to  climb  rose  before  his 
imagination,  but  "  he  screwed  up  his  courage  to  the 
sticking  place,"  and  boldly  commenced  the  ascent, 
and  never  turned  back  till  he  had  reached,  as  you 
have  seen,  the  pinnacle  of  fame.  I  drove  over  the 
place  to-day,  with  one  familiar  with  the  circumstances 
I  have  related,  and  I  could  not  but  feel  that  a  deep 
interest  attached  itself  to  the  spot  where  his  destiny 
and  where  the  current  of  his  thoughts  were  so  com 
pletely  changed  by  so  important  an  announcement. 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Webster  relate  the  story,  and 
describe  the  various  sensations  he  felt.  At  one 
moment  he  laid  his  head  on  his  father's  bosom  and 
wept.  At  another  moment  he  felt  as  much  pride  and 
exultation  as  ever  was  felt  by  a  Roman  Consul  to 
whom  a  triumph  had  been  decreed. 

He  commenced  his  preparation  for  College.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  he  had  been  only  nine  months 
at  the  Academy.  As  late  as  the  month  of  June  he 
had  never  opened  a  Greek  Grammar  for  studying,  and 
yet  he  was  to  enter  Dartmouth  in  August !  A  short 
time,  indeed.  Mr.  Wood  had  a  class  of  young  men  then 
fitting  themselves  for  the  same  purpose.  They  were 
reviewing  Cicero's  Orations.  Mr.  Webster  had  never 
read  one  of  them.  He  entered  the  same  class,  and 
opening  the  book  at  the  pages  they  were  reviewing, 
he  read  them  fluently  and  understandingly,  as  it  were 
by  intuition.  Their  language  seemed  to  be  his  own 
language.  He  could  think  in  the  same  strain ;  and 
he  has  been  heard  to  say  that  no  task  was  ever  so 
easily  accomplished  as  his  reading  Cicero.  But  not 
BO  with  Greek.  He  did  not  like  the  language,  and 
10 


218  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

would  never  take  the  trouble  to  understand  it  any 
farther  than  was  absolutely  required  by  his  Professor. 
It  was  not  because  he  could  not  learn  that  or  any 
other  language  with  facility,  but  he  did  not  fancy  it, 
and  never  tried  to  make  himself  a  good  Greek  scholar. 
The  English  and  Latin  he  thought  sufficient  for  his 
purposes.  Had  he  intended  to  be  a  Greek  Professor, 
he  would  have  thought  otherwise  and  done  otherwise. 
Mr.  Webster  has  often  related  the  following  anec 
dote,  which  is  well  told  by  Professor  Sanborn,  whose 
words  I  substitute  for  my  own.  His  recreations  then 
were  the  same  which  have  occupied  his  leisure  hours 
in  later  life.  In  his  rambles  among  the  neighboring 
woods,  his  rifle  was  his  constant  companion : 


linoque  solebat  et  hamo 


Decipere,  et  calamo  salientes  ducere  pisces." 

"  His  kind  mentor  once  ventured  to  suggest  his 
fears  lest  young  Daniel's  example,  in  devoting  so 
much  time  to  his  favorite  amusements,  might  prove 
injurious  to  the  other  boys.  He  did  not  complain 
that  his  task  was  neglected,  or  that  any  lesson  was 
imperfectly  prepared.  This  suggestion  was  sufficient. 
The  sensitive  boy  could  not  bear  the  suspicion  of  any 
dereliction  of  duty.  The  next  night  was  devoted  to 
study.  No  sleep  visited  his  eyes.  His  teacher  ap 
peared  in  the  morning  to  hear  his  recitation.  He 
could  read  his  hundred  lines  without  mistake.  He 
was  nowhere  found  tripping  in  syntax  or  prosody.  As 
his  teacher  was  preparing  to  leave,  young  Daniel 
requested  him  to  hear  a  few  more  lines.  Another 
hundred  was  read.  Breakfast  was  repeatedly  an- 


PREPARES  FOR  COLLEGE.  219 

nounced.  The  good  doctor  was  impatient  to  go,  and 
asked  his  pupil  how  much  further  he  could  read.  '  To 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  book  of  the  j3Hneid,'  was  the 
prompt  reply.  The  doctor  never  had  occasion  to 
reprove  him  again.  His  study  hours  ever  after  were 
sacred.  In  less  than  a  year,  he  read,  with  his  teach 
er,  Virgil  and  Cicero  ;  and,  in  private,  two  large  works 
of  Grotius  and  Puffendorf,  written  in  Latin." 

In  the  month  of  August,  1797,  Mr.  Wood  pro 
posed  that  Mr.  Webster  should  enter  college  with 
the  class  that  had  been  long  preparing  and  had  read 
all  the  books  necessary  to  enable  its  members  to  en 
ter  with  decided  advantages.  That  good  man  went 
to  the  Faculty,  personally,  to  recommend  him,  "  not 
so  much  for  what  he  had  learned  as  for  what  he  told 
them  he  could  learn  if  he  had  an  opportunity."  He 
was  then  only  fifteen  years  old,  and  his  advantages, 
as  you  have  seen,  had  not  been  great.  But  relying 
on  the  influence  of  Mr.  Wood  with  the  Faculty,  as 
well  as  upon  his  ability  to  perform  what  he  should 
promise,  he  made  his  arrangements  to  go,  unprepared 
as  he  was,  from  the  want  of  time  and  the  absence  of 
the  requisite  books. 

A  near  neighbor,  who  was  engaged  in  the  domes 
tic  manufacture  of  clothes,  with  great  dispatch  fitted 
him  out  with  a  new  suit  of  blue  clothing — coat,  vest 
and  pantaloons — for  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  at 
Hanover  and  his  examination. 

When  thus  prepared,  he  set  out  on  horseback. 
On  his  way  he  encountered  a  violent  storm,  which 
lasted  two  days,  raised  a  flood,  carried  away  bridges, 
delayed  his  arrival,  made  it  necessary  in  one  in- 


220  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

stance  for  him  to  travel  twenty  miles  farther  than  the 
usual  distance,  and  near  the  end  of  his  journey 
drenched  him  with  rain. 

"When  Mr.  Webster  arrived,  the  Faculty  for  his 
examination  was  in  session,  and  his  presence  was  re 
quired  immediately.  On  going  to  his  room  he  found 
that  the  soaking  rain  had  started  the  color  of  his  new 
suit,  and  that  from  head  to  foot,  under  clothing,  skin 
and  all,  he  was  as  blue  as  an  indigo-bag.  No  time 
was  to  be  lost.  He  improved  his  plight  all  he  could, 
yet,  blue  as  he  was,  he  presented  himself  before  his 
examiners,  that  they  might  determine  his  qualifica 
tions  to  enter  their  institution. 

Professor  Shurtliff,  now  one  of  the  Faculty,  en 
tered  that  College  at  the  same  time,  and  has  often 
told  the  story  of  his  first  meeting  Mr.  Webster.  He 
says: 

"When  I  came  to  enter  this  Institution  in  1797, 
I  put  up,  with  others  from  the  same  Academy,,  at 
what  is  now  called  the  Olcott  House,  which  was  then 
a  tavern.  We  were  conducted  to  a  chamber,  where 
we  might  brush  our  clothes  and  make  ready  for  ex 
amination.  A  young  man,  a  stranger  to  uiTall,  was 
soon  ushered  into  the  room.  Similarity  of  object 
rendered  the  ordinary  forms  of  introduction  needless. 
We  learned  that  his  name  was  Webster,  also  where 
he  had  studied,  and  how  much  Latin  and  Greek  he 
had  read,  which  I  think  was  just  to  the  limit  pre 
scribed  by  law  at  that  period,  and  which  was  very 
much  below  the  present  requisition." 

When  Mr.  Webster  appeared  before  the  Faculty, 
he,  in  good-humor  has  said  of  himself,  he  "  was  not 


ENTERS    DARTMOUTH.  221 

only  black  Dan  but  blue  Dan."  However,  with  self- 
possession  and  great  tact,  he  narrated  what  time  he 
had  occupied,  what  books  he  had  read,  and  what  op 
portunities  he  had  improved  for  study,  and  especially 
the  mishaps  that  had  befallen  him  on  the  way  there. 
"  Thus  you  see  me,"  said  he,  "  as  I  am,  if  not  entitled 
to  your  approbation,  at  least  to  your  sympathy."  He 
answered  the  questions  addressed  to  him  without  em 
barrassment  and  to  his  best  ability.  With  the  aid  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Wood's  influence,  he  passed  what  he 
looked  to  as  a  fiery  ordeal,  and  entered  on  his  career 
at  College  as  a  member  of  the  Freshmen  class.  A 
fortunate  day  for  Dartmouth  College. 

Hon.  John  Wheelock,  LL.  D.,  was  then  the  Presi 
dent.  Hon.  Bezaleel  Woodward  and  Rev.  John  Smith, 
D.  D.,  were  among  the  eminent  Professors.  Mr.  Web 
ster  was  there,  as  I  have  shown  you,  more  through 
the  influence  of  Dr.  Wood  than  because  he  was  thor 
oughly  prepared.  He  had  not  read  the  books  which 
were  set  down  among  the  requisites  for  admission. 
From  the  month  of  March  to  the  month  of  August, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wood,  he  had  looked  into 
some  of  them — as  many  as  he  could  in  so  short  a 
time — but  others  he  had  not  even  opened. 

He  was  not,  therefore,  prepared  to  compete  with, 
much  less  to  excel,  the  older  and  more  thoroughly 
prepared  members  of  his  class.  Had  he  occupied  a 
year  more  in  his  preparatory  studies,  he  would  have 
stood  on  a  par  with  any  of  them  in  all  the  branches 
of  learning  to  which  their  attention  was  at  any  time 
called.  As  it  was,  Jbe  stood  at  the  foot  of  his  class 
in  the  beginning,  and  was  compelled  to  delve  into  new 


222  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

books,  the  outsides  of  which  he  had  never  before 
seen,  to  keep  pace  with  his  fellows,  while  some  of  his 
classmates  were  only  leisurely  reviewing  what  they 
had  before  read.  This  was  a  disadvantage  which  he 
always  felt,  and  often  spoke  of  in  his  after  life. 

Professor  Sanborn  asks  the  following  question: 
What  one  of  those  College  idlers,  who  talk  so  flip 
pantly  about  the  idleness  of  Daniel  Webster,  when  a 
student,  had  prepared  himself  for  a  like  station  in 
two  short  months  ?  The  students  of  that  day  were 
deprived  of  many  of  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life 
which  are  now  so  liberally  enjoyed.  This  learned 
Professor  also  says  Mr.  Webster  at  once  took  the 
position  in  it  which  he  has  since  held  in  the  intellec 
tual  world.  By  the  unanimous  consent,  both  of 
teachers  and  classmates,  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his 
associates  in  study ;  and  was  as  far  above  them  then, 
in  all 'that  constitutes  human  greatness,  as  he  is  now. 

At  that  time,  the  studies  of  the  Freshmen's  class, 
the  first  year,  were  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages, 
the  rules  for  speaking  and  composition,  and  the  ele 
ments  of  mathematics.  Since  that  day,  the  number 
and  character  of  the  text  or  class  books  required  to 
be  studied,  I  am  told,  have  gradually  increased  with 
the  progress  of  public  improvement.  In  the  study 
of  the  Latin  language,  and  in  the  rules  of  speaking 
and  composition,  he  was  perfectly  at  home.  His 
Virgil  and  Cicero  were,  to  him.  charmed  volumes. 
He  read  them  more  for  the  pleasure  they  afforded, 
than  as  a  task  imposed  on  a  school-boy.  They  con 
stituted  a  theme  for  his  eloquence  when  speaking  to 
his  College  fellows,  on  every  proper  occasion. 


ENTERS    DARTMOUTH.  223 

The  language  in  which  those  great  men  wrote,  was 
to  him  a  brilliant  transparency,  through  which  he 
could  see  their  thoughts  as  others  see  physical  objects; 
and  his  young  but  searching  mind  revelled  among 
those  thoughts  as  with  congenial  spirits.  The  Latin 
Dictionary  and  Grammar  were  in  his  memory,  and 
the  rapidity  with  which  he  soon  read  all  the  Latin 
authors,  terse  and  good,  marked  him  as  a  prodigy. 
So  it  was  with  the  rules  of  speaking  and  composition. 
His  translations  of  the  Latin  authors  as  he  read 
them,  and  his  essays  in  writing,  submitted  for  exam 
ination,  enabled  him  to  reduce  to  practice  what  those 
rules  taught  him  in  theory.  There  was  a  charm 
about  speaking  and  writing  which  had  enchanted  him 
during  the  short  time  he  was  at  Exeter.  Although, 
at  that  time,  he  was  too  modest  or  too  timid  to  stand 
out  before  the  spectators,  and  deliver  a  speech,  as  I 
told  you  in  a  former  letter,  yet  he  felt,  and  he  fre 
quently  says,  that  if  he  had  a  desire,  with  respect  to 
the  future,  at  that  early  stage  of  his  career,  it  was  to 
write  as  Virgil  and  Tacitus  wrote,  to  speak  as  Cicero 
spoke.  This  he  knew  he  could  not  do,  unless  he 
could  think  like  them.  In  the  very  outset,  haviug 
made  himself  master  of  the  rules  of  speaking  and 
composition,  as  far  as  the  best  authors,  could  instruct 
him ;  having  acquired,  also,  the  graces  of  oratory  ; 
and,  being  by  nature  self-possessed,  he  never  mounted 
the  rostrum  without  commanding  attention.  There 
was  a  dignity  in  his  manner,  a  grace  in  his  delivery, 
with  courteous  deference  to  all  present,  that  never 
failed,  even  then,  to  raise  admirers.  That  large  fore 
head,  and  those  dark,  penetrating  eyes  you  have  so 


224  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

often  seen,  were  as  visible  then  as  now.  No  judge  of 
men  could  look  at  him,  and  not  say  God  made  him 
extraordinary.  Every  student  in  that  College  ac 
knowledged  and  deferred  to  his  great  talents.  The 
whole  Faculty,  too,  sanctioned  by  their  words,  their 
actions,  and  the  respect  they  paid  him,  the  opinion 
which  the  students  entertained. 

Professor  Shurtliff,  one  of  his  classmates,  also 
speaks  of  him  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  "Webster,  while  in  College,  was  remarkable 
for  his  steady  habits,  his  intense  application  to  study, 
and  his  punctual  attendance  upon  all  the  prescribed 
exercises.  I  know  not  that  he  was  absent  from  a  re 
citation,  or  from  morning  and  evening  prayers  in  the 
Chapel,  or  from  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  -f  and 
I  doubt  if  ever  a  smile  was  seen  upon  his  face  dur 
ing  any  religious  exercise.  He  was  always  in  his 
place,  and  with  a  decorum  suited  to  it.  He  had  no 
collision  with  any  one,  nor  appeared  to  enter  into  the 
concerns  of  others,  but  emphatically  minded  his  oivn 
business. 

"  But  as  steady  as  the  sun,  he  pursued  with  in 
tense  application  the  great  object  for  which  he  came 
to  College.  This  I  conceive  was  the  secret  of  his 
popularity  in  College,  and  his  success  in  subsequent 
life." 

The  venerable  Judge  Woodward,  the  Professor 
of  Natural  Philosophy,  (who  died  shortly  after  Mr. 
Webster  left  College.)  often  spoke  of  him  in  high 
terms.  Said  he, — "  That  man's  victory  is  certain 
who  readies  the  heart  through  the  medium  of  the 
understanding.  He  (Mr.  Webster)  gained  me  by 


ENTERS    DARTMOUTH.  225 

combating  my  opinions,  for  1  often  attacked  him 
merely  to  try  his  strength." 

That  learned  and  aged  Professor,  when  he  first 
made  Mr.  Webster's  acquaintance,  predicted  his  fu 
ture  eminence,  and  took  infinite  pleasure  in  assisting 
to  lay  the  foundation  stones  of  what  he  felt  was  to 
be  a  magnificent  building.  These  circumstances,  and 
these  flattering  indications,  induced  him  to  direct  his 
steps  early  to  the  fields  of  oratory.  From  his  con 
versations  with  well  informed  men,  he  obtained  a 
knowledge  of  the  manner  of  such  men  as  Fisher 
Ames,  Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams,  Patrick  Henry, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  and  other  great  men,  who  at 
that  day  were  distinguished  as  orators.  From  jour 
nals  and  other  sources,  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of 
the  style  of  Pitt,  Burke,  and  others,  eminent  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  first  step  towards 
emulating  them,  he  conceived  was,  to  ascertain  who 
were  truly  eminent,  and  then,  how  they  became  so. 
As  early  as  possible,  he  acquired  this  information ; 
and  then  it  was  that  he  discovered  that  theory  con 
cerning  eloquence,  which  he  so  graphically  described 
years  afterwards,  in  his  eulogy  on  Adams  and  Jef 
ferson.  Hear  him  !  You  will  never  tire. 

"  True  eloquence,  indeed,  does  not  consist  in 
speech.  It  cannot  be  brought  from  far.  Labor  and 
learning  may  toil  for  it,  but  they  will  toil  in  vain. 
Words  and  phrases  may  be  marshalled  in  every  way, 
but  they  cannot  compass  it.  It  must  exist  in  the 
man,  in  the  subject,  and  in  the  occasion.  Affected 
passion,  intense  expression,  the  pomp  of  declamation, 
all  may  aspire  after  it,  they  cannot  reach  it.  It 
10* 


226  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL 


comes,  if  it  comes  at  all,  like  the  outbreaking  of  a 
fountain  from  the  earth,  or  the  bursting  forth  of  vol 
canic  fires  with  spontaneous,  original,  native  force. 
The  graces  taught  in  the  schools,  the  costly  ornaments 
and  studied  contrivances  of  speech,  shock  and  disgust 
men  when  their  own  lives,  and  the  fate  of  their  wives, 
their  children,  and  their  country,  hang  on  the  deci 
sion  of  the  hour  ;  then  words  have  lost  their  power, 
and  rhetoric  is  vain,  and  all  the  elaborate  oratory 
contemptible.  Even  genius  itself  then  feels  rebuked 
and  subdued,  —  »as  in  the  presence  of  higher  qualities, 
Then  patriotism  is  eloquent  :  then  self-devotion  is 
eloquent.  The  clear  conception  outrunning  the  de 
ductions  of  logic,  the  high  purpose,  the  firm  resolve, 
the  dauntless  spirit  speaking  on  the  tongue,  beaming 
from  the  eye,  informing  every  feature,  and  urging 
the  whole  man  onward  —  -right  onward  to  his  object— 
this,  this  is  eloquence  ;  or  rather,  it  is  something 
greater  and  higher  than  all  eloquence  ;  it  is  action, 
noble,  sublime,  godlike  action." 

Acting  on  this  theory,  Mr,  Webster  conceived  it 
was  not  enough  for  him  to  have  a  good  voice,  a  fluent 
speech,  accompanied  with  graceful  gestures  and  a 
commanding  person,  to  be  eloquent,  but  he  must,  in 
reality,  be  the  man  ;  he  must  have  the  thought  ;  he 
must  be  qualified  by  mental  endowments  and  acquire 
ments  for  all  the  occasions  which  might  call  forth 
eloquence,  and  then,  and  then  only,  could  he  be  an 
eloquent  man.  Without  these,  he  would  be  like  a 
shining  casket  without  its  jewels. 

It  was  one  of  the  peculiar  features  of  this  college 
that  after  exacting  the  ordinary  recitations  or  lessons 


IN    COLLEGE.  22Y 


the  minds  of  the  students  were  allowed  to  follow  the 
bent  of  their  own  inclinations.  There  was  no  uni 
formity  of  coats,  caps,  or  thoughts ;  consequently  each 
one  could  distinguish  himself  if  he  had  the  power,  in 
other  ways  than  by  being  prompt  at  prayers,  prompt 
at  recitations,  and  prompt  in  obeying  all  the  little 
exactions  which  in  other  schools  are  too  often  the 
only  merits  recognised  by  the  faculty,  and  the  only 
basis  on  which  claims  to  collegiate  honors  stand. 
Although  Mr.  Webster  was  careful  to  observe  all 
the  requirements,  and  was  remarkable  for  his  punctu 
ality  in  every  duty  or  engagement,  yet  he  did  not 
consider  these  qualifications  as  all  that  was  desirable. 

Mr.  Webster  was  distinguished  (says  my  inform 
ant)  the  first  year  for  his  great  knowledge  beyond 
the  range  of  his  daily  lessons,  and  much  more  for 
his  bold  and  independent  manner  of  thinking  and  ex 
pressing  his  opinions  on  all  subjects  which  came 
within  the  range  of  his  reading  or  observation. 

But,  in  the  study  of  the  Greek  languages  and 
mathematics,  he  did  no  more  than  was  allotted  him  to 
do  to  keep  along  with  his  class.  The  bent  of  his 
mind  was  not  in  that  direction. 

During  his  second  year  at  college  he  continued  to 
study  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  reading  new 
books,  and  also  proceeded  to  the  study  of  geography, 
logic,  and  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics,  as 
prescribed  by  the  rules  of  the  College.  Geography, 
ancient  and  modern,  delighted  him  ;  and  during  that 
year  he  made  great  proficiency  in  this  branch  of  his 
education.  Logic  was  a  study  particularly  suited  to 
his  taste  and  mind. 


228  MEMORIALS    OF    DAKIEL    WEBSTER. 

Professor  Sanborn  also  relates  the  following  anec 
dote  : — After  a  residence  of  two  years  at  college, 
he  spent  a  vacation  at  home.  He  had  tasted  the 
sweets  of  literature,  and  enjoyed  the  victories  of  in 
tellectual  effort.  He  lo\7ed  the  scholar's  life.  He  felt 
keenly  for  the  condition  of  his  brother  Ezckiel,  who 
was  destined  to  remain  on  the  farm,  and  labor  to  lift 
the  mortgage  from  the  old  homestead,  and  furnish  the 
means  of  his  brother's  support.  Ezekiel  was  a  farmer 
in  spirit  and  in  practice.  He  led  his  laborers  in  the 
field,  as  he  afterwards  led  his  class  in  Greek.  Daniel 
knew  and  appreciated  his  superior  intellectual  endow 
ments.  He  resolved  that  his  brother  should  enjoy 
the  same  privileges  with  himself.  That  night  the  two 
brothers  retired  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep.  They  dis 
coursed  of  their  prospects.  Daniel  utterly  refused  to 
enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  brother's  labor  any  longer. 
They  were  united  in  sympathy  and  affection,  and  they 
must  be  united  in  their  pursuits.  But  how  could 
they  leave  their  beloved  parents,  in  age  and  solitude, 
with  no  protector?  They  talked  and  wept, and  wept 
and  talked  till  dawn  of  day.  They  dared  not  broach 
the  matter  to  their  father.  Finally,  Daniel  resolved 
to  be  the  orator  upon  the  occasion.  Judge  Webster 
was  then  somewhat  burdened  with  debts.  He  was 
advanced  in  age,  and  had  set  his  heart  upon  having 
Ezekiel  as  his  helper.  The  very  thought  of  separa 
tion  from  both  his  sons  was  painful  to  him.  When 
the  proposition  was  made,  he  felt  as  did  the  Patriarch 
of  old,  when  he  exclaimed,  "  Joseph  is  not  *  *  *,  and 
will  ye  also  take  Benjamin  away  ?"  A  family  council 
was  called.  The  mother's  opinion  was  asked.  She 


IN    COLLEGE.  229 


was  a  strong-minded  woman.  She  was  not  blind  to 
the  superior  endowments  of  her  sons.  With  all  a 
mother's  partiality,  however,  she  did  not  over-estimate 
their  powers.  She  decided  the  matter  at  once.  Her 
reply  was  :  "  I  have  lived  long  in  the  world,  and  have 
been  happy  in  my  children.  If  Daniel  and  Ezekiel 
will  promise  to  take  care  of  me  in  my  old  age,  I  will 
consent  to  the  sale  of  all  our  property  at  once,  and 
they  may  enjoy  the  benefit  of  that  which  remains  after 
our  debts  are  paid."  This  was  a  moment  of  intense 
interest  to  all  the  parties.  Parents  and  children  all 
mingled  their  tears  together,  and  sobbed  aloud,  at  the 
thought  of  separation.  The  father  yielded  to  the 
entreaties  of  the  sons  and  the  advice  of  his  wife. 
Daniel  returned  to  college,  and  Ezekiel  took  his  little 
bundle  in  his  hand,  and  sought  on  foot  the  scene  of 
his  preparatory  studies.  In  one  year  he  joined  his 
younger  brother  in  college. 

^  In  the  third  year,  besides  the  languages,  Daniel 
read  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy  and  Rhetoric. 
Besides  the  lessons  daily  learned  by  his  class  and 
himself,  he  read  with  intense  satisfaction,  "  Watts 
on  the  Mind,"  and  "  Locke  on  the  Understanding ;" 
he  committed  them  to  memory.  When  he  came  to 
these  great  lights,  he  began  to  see  more  clearly  than 
ever  the  nature  of  the  mind,  and  proceeded  to  the 
vigorous  discipline  of  his  own  powers  of  analysis ;  so 
that,  ere  the  Faculty  were  aware  of  it,  they  had  a 
Logician  in  their  presence,  whose  skill  in  argument 
and  deep  penetration  baffled  all  their  learning  and 
experience. 

Mr.  Webster  was  now  in  his  seventeenth  year. 


230  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

His  manly  character,  his  dignified  deportment,  and 
his  acknowledged  abilities  had  become  well  known. 
The  patriotic  citizens  of  Hanover,  old  and  young,  in 
College,  and  out  of  it,  united  in  an  invitation  to  him, 
to  deliver  an  oration  on  the  4th  of  July.  This  he 
accepted,  although  the  time  for  preparation  was  short. 
The  ringing  of  bells,  and  the  thundering  cannon 
ushered  in  the  day.  The  ceremonies  were  conducted 
with  great  pomp  and  solemnity.  The  concourse  of 
people  was  large.  Anthems  were  sung.  The  glorious 
declaration  itself  was  read ;  and  then,  he  came  for 
ward,  and  with  all  the  graces  of  oratory,  delivered 
the  oration  for  the  occasion.  I  have  taken  great 
pains  to  get  a  copy  of  it.  One  of  his  classmates  has 
preserved  it  in  a  pamphlet,  on  the  title-page  of  which 
I  find  the  following : 

AN   ORATION 

Pronounced  at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  the  4th  of  July, 
1800,  being  the  Twenty-Fourth  Anniversary  of 

American  Independence. 

BY   DANIEL   WEBSTER, 

Member  of  the  Junior  Class,  Dart.  University. 


"  Do  then,  great  Liberty,  inspire  our  imils, 
And  make  our  lives  in  thy  possession  Jiappv, 
Or  our  deaths  glorious  in  thy  just  defence."— Addiion, 

Published  by  request  of  the  Subscribers. 


Printed  at  Hanover, 

BY  MOSES  DA. VIS. 

1800. 


ORATION. 

Countrymen^  Brethren,  and  Fathers :  We  are 
now  assembled  to  celebrate  an  anniversary,  ever  to  be 


FOURTH    OF   JULY    ORATIOK.  231 

held  in  dear  remembrance  by  the  sons  of  freedom. 
Nothing  less  than  the  birth  of  a  nation-— nothing  less 
than  the  emancipation  of  three  millions  of  people 
from  the  degrading  chains  of  foreign  dominion,  is  the 
event  we  commemorate. 

Twenty  four  years  have  this  day  elapsed  since 
these  United  States  first  raised  the  standard  of  Lib 
erty,  and  echoed  the  shouts  of  Independence  ! 

Those  of  you,  who  were  then  reaping  the  iron  har 
vest  of  the  martial  field,  whose  bosoms  then  palpi 
tated  for  the  honor  of  America,  will,  at  this  time, 
experience  a  renewal  of  all  that  fervent  patriotism  5 
of  all  those  indescribable  emotions  which  then  agi 
tated  your  breasts.  As  for  us,  who  were  either  then 
unborn,  or  not  far  enough  advanced  beyond  the 
threshold  of  existence,  to  engage  in  the  grand  conflict 
for  Liberty,  we  now  most  cordially  unite  with  you,  to 
greet  the  return  of  this  joyous  anniversary,  to  wel* 
come  the  return  of  the  day  that  gave  us  Freedom, 
and  to  hail  the  rising  glories  of  our  country ! 

On  occasions  like  this,  you  have  hitherto  been  ad* 
dressed,  from  the  stage,  on  the  nature,  the  origin,  the 
expediency  of  civil  government. 

The  field  of  political  speculation  has  here  been 
explored  by  persons  possessing  talents  to  which  the 
speaker  of  the  day  can  have  no  pretensions.  De 
clining,  therefore,  a  dissertation  on  the  principles  of 
civil  polity,  you  will  indulge  me  in  slightly  sketching 
those  events  which  have  originated,  nurtured  and 
raised  to  its  present  grandeur  this  new  empire. 

As  no  nation  on  the  globe  can  rival  us  in  the  ra 
pidity  of  our  growth  since  the  conclusion  of  the  Hevo- 


232  MEMORIALS    Of    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

lutionary  War,  so  none,  perhaps,  ever  endured  greater 
hardships  and  distresses  than  the  people  of  this  coun 
try  previous  to  that  period. 

We  behold  a  feeble  band  of  colonists  engaged  in 
the  arduous  undertaking  of  a  new  settlement  in  the 
wilds  of  North  America.  Their  civil  liberty  being 
mutilated,  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  religious  senti 
ments  denied  them  in  the  land  that  gave  them  birth, 
they  fled  their  country,  they  braved  the  dangers  of 
the  then  almost  unnavigated  ocean,  and  sought,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe,  an  asylum  from  the  iron 
grasp  of  tyranny  and  the  more  intolerable  scourge  of 
ecclesiastical  persecution. 

But  gloomy,  indeed,  was  the  prospect  when  ar 
rived  on  this  8ide  the  Atlantic. 

Scattered  in  detachments  along  a  coast  immensely 
extensive,  at  a  distance  of  more  than  three  thousand 
miles  from  their  friends  on  the  eastern  continent, 
they  were  exposed  to  all  those  evils,  and  encountered 
or  experienced  all  those  difficulties  to  which  human 
nature  seemed  liable.  Destitute  of  convenient  habi 
tations,  the  inclemencies  of  the  seasons  harassed  them, 
the  midnight  beasts  of  prey  prowled  terribly  around 
them,  and  the  more  portentous  yell  of  savage  fury  in 
cessantly  assailed  them.  But  the  same  undiminished 
confidence  in  Almighty  God  which  prompted  the  first 
settlers  of  this  country  to  forsake  the  unfriendly 
climes  of  Europe,  still  supported  them  under  all  their 
calamities,  and  inspired  them  with  fortitude  almost 
divine.  Having  a  glorious  issue  to  their  labors  now 
in  prospect,  they  cheerfully  endured  the  rigors  of  the 
climate,  pursued  the  savage  beast  to  his  remotest 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    ORATION.  233 

haunt,  and  stood,  undismayed,  in  the  dismal  hour  of 
Indian  battle. 

Scarcely  were  the  infant  settlements  freed  from 
those  dangers  which  at  first  environed  them,  ere  the 
clashing  interests  of  France  and  Britain  involved 
them  anew  in  war.  The  Colonists  were  now  destined 
to  combat  with  well  appointed,  well  disciplined  troops 
from  Europe  ;  and  the  horrors  of  the  tomahawk  and 
the  scalping-knife  were  again  renewed.  But  these 
frowns  of  fortune,  distressing  as  they  were,  had  been 
met  without  a  sigh,  and  endured  without  a  groan,  had 
not  Great  Britain  presumptuously  arrogated  to  her 
self  the  glory  of  victories  achieved  by  the  bravery  of 
American  militia.  Louisburg  must  be  taken,  Canada 
attacked,  and  a  frontier  of  more  than  one  thousand 
miles  defended  by  untutored  yeomanry,  while  the 
honor  of  every  conquest  must  be  ascribed  to  an  Eng 
lish  army. 

But  while  Great  Britain  was  thus  tyrannically 
stripping  her  Colonies  of  their  well  earned  laurels, 
and  triumphantly  weaving  them  into  the  stupendous 
wreath  of  her  own  martial  glories,  she  was  unwitting 
ly  teaching  them  to  value  themselves,  and  effectually 
to  resist,  on  a  future  day,  her  unjust  encroachments. 

The  pitiful  tale  of  taxation  now  commences, — the 
unhappy  quarrel,  which  resulted  in  the  dismember 
ment  of  the  British  Empire,  has  here  its  origin. 

England,  now  triumphant  over  the  united  powers 
of  France  and  Spain,  is  determined  to  reduce  to  the 
condition  of  slaves,  her  American  subjects. 

We  might  now  display  the  Legislatures  of  the  sev 
eral  States,  together  with  the  General  Congress,  peti- 


234  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

tioning,  praying,  remonstrating  •  and,  like  dutiful  sub 
jects,  humbly  laying  their  grievances  before  the  throne. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  could  exhibit  a  British  Par 
liament,  assiduously  devising  means  to  subjugate 
America,  disdaining  our  petitions  ;  trampling  on  our 
rights  ;  and  menacingly  telling  us,  in  language  not  to 
be  misunderstood,  "  Ye  shall  be  Slaves  /"  We  could 
mention  the  haughty,  tyrannical,  perfidious  Gage,  at 
the  head  of  a  standing  army  ;  we  could  show  our 
brethren,  attacked  and  slaughtered  at  Lexington  ! 
our  property  plundered  and  destroyed  at  Concord  ! 
Recollections  can  still  pain  us,  with  the  spiral  flames 
of  burning  Charlestown,  the  agonizing  groans  of  aged 
parents,  the  shrieks  of  widows,  orphans,  and  infants ! 

Indelibly  impressed  on  our  memories,  still  live 
the  dismal  scenes  of  Bunker's  awful  mount,  the  grand 
theatre  of  New  England  bravery ;  where  slaughter 
stalked,  grimly  triumphant ;  where  relentless  Britain 
saw  her  soldiers,  the  unhappy  instruments  of  despo 
tism,  fallen  in  heaps,  beneath  the  nervous  arm  of  in 
jured  freemen ! 

There  the  great  "Warren  fought,  and  there,  alas  ! 
he  fell !  Valuing  life  only  as  it  enabled  him  to  serve 
his  country,  he  freely  resigned  himself,  a  willing  mar 
tyr  in  the  cause  of  Liberty,  and  now  lies  encircled  in 
the  arms  of  glory. 

"  Peace  to  the  Patriot's  shade — let  no  rude  blast 
Disturb  the  willow  that  nods  o'er  his  tomb ; 
Let  orphan  tears  bedew  his  sacred  urn, 
And  fame's  loud  trump  proclaim  the  hero's  name, 
Far  as  the  circuit  of  the  spheres  extends." 

But,  haughty  Albion,  thy  reign  shall  soon  be  over. 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    ORATION.  235 

Thou  shalt  triumph  no  longer ;  thine  empire  already 
reels  and  totters  ;  thy  laurels  even  now  begin  to 
wither,  and  thy  frame  decay.  Thou  hast,  at  length, 
roused  the  indignation  of  an  insulted  people ;  thine 
oppressions  they  deem  no  longer  tolerable. 

The  4th  day  of  July,  1776,  has  now  arrived,  and 
America,  manfully  springing  from  the  torturing  fangs 
of  the  British  Lion,  now  rises  majestic  in  the  pride 
of  her  sovereignty,  and  bids  her  Eagle  elevate  his 
wings ! 

The  solemn  Declaration  of  Independence  is  now 
pronounced,  amidst  crowds  of  admiring  citizens,  by 
the  supreme  council  of  our  nation ;  and  received 
with  the  unbounded  plaudits  of  a  grateful  people  ! 

That  was  the  hour  when  heroism  was  proved — 
when  the  souls  of  men  were  tried. 

It  was  then,  ye  venerable  patriots  (speaking  to 
the  Revolutionary  soldiers  present),  it  was  then  you 
lifted  the  indignant  arm,  and  unitedly  swore  to  be 
free  !  Despising  such  toys  as  subjugated  empires, 
you  then  knew  no  middle  fortune  between  liberty 
and  death. 

Firmly  relying  on  the  protection  of  Heaven,  un- 
warped  in  the  resolution  you  had  taken,  you  then, 
undaunted,  met — engaged — defeated  the  gigantic 
power  of  Britain,  and  rose  triumphant  over  the 
aggressions  of  your  enemies. 

Trenton,  Princeton,  Bennington,  and  Saratoga 
were  the  successive  theatres  of  your  victories,  and 
the  utmost  bounds  of  creation  are  the  limits  of  your 
fame  !  The  sacred  fire  of  freedom,  then  enkindled 
in  your  breasts,  shall  be  perpetuated  through  the 


236  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER.      . 

long  descent  of  future  ages,  and  burn,  with  undimin- 
ished  fervor,  in  the  bosoms  of  millions  yet  unborn. 

Finally,  to  close  the  sanguinary  conflict,  to  grant 
America  the  blessings  of  an  honorable  peace,  and 
clothe  her  heroes  with  laurels,  Cornwallis.  at  whose 
feet  the  kings  and  princes  of  Asia  have  since  thrown 
their  diadems,  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the  sword 
of  Washington. 

The  great  drama  is  now  completed:  our  Inde 
pendence  is  now  acknowledged ;  and  the  hopes  of  our 
enemies  are  blasted  for  ever ;  Columbia  is  now  seated 
in  the  forum  of  Nations,  and  the  Empires  of  the 
world  are  amazed  at  the  bright  effulgence  of  her 
glory. 

Thus,  friends  and  citizens,  did  the  kind  hand  of 
overruling  Providence  conduct  us,  through  toils, 
fatigues  and  dangers,  to  Independence  and  Peace. 
If  piety  be  the  rational  exercise  of  the  human  soul, 
if  religion  be  not  a  chimera,  and  if  the  vestiges  of 
heavenly  assistance  are  clearly  traced  in  those  events 
which  mark  the  annals  of  our  Nation,  it  becomes  us, 
on  this  day,  in  consideration  of  the  great  things 
which  have  been  done  for  us,  to  render  the  tribute  of 
unfeigned  thanks  to  that  God,  who  superintends 
the  universe,  and  holds  aloft  the  scale,  that  weighs 
the  destinies  of  Nations. 

The  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  War  did  not 
accomplish  the  entire  achievements  of  our  country 
men.  Their  military  character  was  then,  indeed, 
sufficiently  established  ;  but  the  time  was  coming 
which  should  prove  their  political  sagacity — their 
ability  to  govern  themselves. 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    ORATION.  237 

No  sooner  was  peace  restored  with  England  (the 
first  grand  article  of  which  was  the  acknowledgment 
of  our  Independence),  than  the  old  system  of  Confed 
eration,  dictated,  at  first,  by  necessity,  and  adopted 
for  the  purposes  of  the  moment,  was  found  inadequate 
to  the  government  of  an  extensive  Empire.  Under 
a  full  conviction  of  this,  we  then  saw  the  people  of 
these  States  engaged  in  a  transaction  which  is  un 
doubtedly  the  greatest  approximation  towards  human 
perfection  the  political  world  ever  yet  witnessed,  and 
which,  perhaps,  will  for  ever  stand  in  the  history  of 
mankind  without  a  parallel.  A  great  Republic,  com 
posed  of  different  States,  whose  interest  in  all  respects 
could  not  be  perfectly  compatible,  then  came  deliber 
ately  forward,  discarded  one  system  of  government 
and  adopted  another,  without  the  loss  of  one  man's 
blood. 

There  is  not  a  single  Government  now  existing 
in  Europe,  which  is  not  based  in  usurpation,  and 
established,  if  established  at  all,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
thousands.  But,  in  the  adoption  of  our  present 
system  of  jurisprudence,  we  see  the  powers  necessary 
for  Government  voluntarily  flowing  from  the  people, 
their  only  proper  origin,  and  directed  to  the  public 
good,  their  only  proper  object. 

With  peculiar  propriety,  we  may  now  felicitate 
ourselves  on  that  happy  form  of  mixed  government 
under  which  we  live.  The  advantages  resulting  to 
the  citizens  of  the  Union  are  utterly  incalculable, 
and  the  day  when  it  was  received  by  a  majority  of 
the  States  shall  stand  on  the  catalogue  of  American 


238  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

anniversaries  second  to  none  but  the  birthday  of 
Independence. 

In  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  our  present 
system  of  Government,  and  the  virtuous  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  administered  by  a  Washington  and 
an  Adams,  we  are  this  day  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace, 
while  war  devastates  Europe  !  We  can  now  sit  down 
beneath  the  shadow  of  the  olive,  while  her  cities 
blaze,  her  streams  run  purple  with  blood,  and  her 
fields  glitter  with  a  forest  of  bayonets  !  The  citizens 
of  America  can  this  day  throng  the  temples  of  free 
dom,  and  renew  their  oaths  of  fealty  to  independence ; 
while  Holland,  our  once  sister  Republic,  is  erased 
from  the  catalogue  of  nations ;  while  Venice  is  des 
troyed,  Italy  ravaged,  and  Switzerland — the  once 
happy,  the  once  united,  the  once  flourishing  Switzer 
land — lies  bleeding  at  every  pore  ! 

No  ambitious  foe  dares  now  invade  our  country. 
No  standing  army  now  endangers  our  liberty.  Our 
Commerce,  though  subject  in  some  degree  to  the  de 
predations  of  the  belligerent  powers,  is  extended  from 
pole  to  pole  5  our  Navy,  though  just  emerging  from 
non-existence,  shall  soon  vouch  for  the  safety  of  our 
merchantmen,  and  bear  the  thunder  of  freedom 
around  the  ball.  Fair  science,  too,  holds  her  gentle 
empire  amongst  us,  and  almost  innumerable  altars 
are  raised  to  her  divinity,  from  Brunswick  to  Florida. 
Yale,  Providence,  and  Harvard,  now  grace  our  land ; 
and  Dartmouth,  towering  majestic  above  the  groves 
which  encircle  her,  now  inscribes  her  glory  on  the 
•registers  of  fame  !  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  those 
oriental  stars  of  literature,  shall  now  be  outshone  by 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    ORATION.  239 

the  bright  sun  of  American  science,  which  displays 
his  broad  circumference  in  uneclipsed  radiance. 

Pleasing,  indeed,  were  it  here  to  dilate  on  the 
future  grandeur  of  America ;  but  we  forbear,  and 
pause  for  a  moment  to  drop  the  tear  of  affection  over 
the  graves  of  our  departed  warriors.  Their  names 
should  be  mentioned  on  every  anniversary  of  Inde 
pendence,  that  the  youth  of  each  successive  generation 
may  learn  not  to  value  life,  when  held  in  competition 
with  their  country's  safety. 

Wooster,  Montgomery,  and  Mercer,  fell  bravely  in 
battle,  and  their  ashes  are  now  entombed  on  the 
fields  that  witnessed  their  valor.  Let  their  exertions 
in  our  country's  cause  be  remembered,  while  liberty 
has  an  advocate  and  gratitude  has  place  in  the  hu 
man  heart. 

Greene,  the  immortal  hero  of  the  Carolinas,  has 
since  gone  down  to  the  grave,  loaded  with  honors,  and 
high  in  the  estimation  of  his  countrymen.  The 
courageous  Putnam  has  long  slept  with  his  fathers ; 
and  Sullivan  and  Cilley,  New  Hampshire's  veteran 
sons,  are  no  more  remembered  with  the  living. 

With  hearts  penetrated  by  unutterable  grief,  we 
are  at  length  constrained  to  ask,  where  is  our  Wash 
ington  ?  where  the  hero  who  led  us  to  victory  ?  where 
the  man  who  gave  us  freedom?  where  is  he,  who 
headed  our  feeble  army,  when  destruction  threat 
ened  us,  who  came  upon  our  enemies  like  the  storms 
of  winter,  and  scattered  them  like  leaves  before  the 
Borean  blast?  Where,  0  !  my  country  !  is  thy  poli 
tical  saviour  ?  Where,  0  !  humanity  !  thy  favorite 
son? 


240  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

The  solemnity  of  this  assembly,  the  lamentations 
of  the  American  people  will  answer,  "  Alas !  he  is 
now  no  more — the  mighty  is  fallen  !" 

Yes,  Americans,  Washington  is  gone  !  he  is  now 
consigned  to  dust  and  sleeps  in  "  dull,  cold  marble  !" 

The  man  who  never  felt  a  wound  but  when  it 
pierced  his  country — who  never  groaned  but  when 
fair  freedom  bled — is  now  for  ever  silent ! 

Wrapped  in  the  shroud  of  death,  the  dark  do 
minions  of  the  grave  long  since  received  him,  and  he 
rests  in  undisturbed  repose  !  Vain  were  the  attempt 
to  express  our  loss — vain  the  attempt  to  describe  the 
feelings  of  our  souls  !  Though  months  have  rolled 
away  since  his  spirit  left  this  terrestrial  orb,  and 
sought  the  shining  worlds  on  high,  yet  the  sad  event 
is  still  remembered  with  increased  sorrow.  The  hoary- 
headed  patriot  of  '76  still  tells  the  mournful  story  to 
the  listening  infant,  till  the  loss  of  his  country 
touches  his  heart,  and  patriotism  fires  his  breast.  The 
aged  matron  still  laments  the  loss  of  the  man,  be 
neath  whose  banners  her  husband  has  fought,  or 
her  son  has  fallen.  At  the  name  of  Washington,  the 
sympathetic  tear  still  glistens  in  the  eye  of  every 
youthful  hero.  Nor  does  the  tender  sigh  yet  cease 
to  heave  in  the  fair  bosom  of  Columbia's  daughters. 

Farewell,  0  Washington,  a  long  farewell ! 
Thy  Country's  tears  embalm  thy  memory ; 
Thy  virtues  challenge  immortality ; 
Impressed  on  grateful  hearts,  thy  name  shall  live, 
Till  dissolution's  deluge  drown  the  world. 

Although  we  must  feel  the  keenest  sorrow  at  the 


FOURTH    OF    JULY    ORATION.  241 

demise  of  our  Washington,  yet  we  console  ourselves 
•with  the  reflection  that  his  virtuous  compatriot,  his 
worthy  successor,  the  firm,  the  wise,  the  inflexible 
Adams,  still  survives.  Elevated  by  the  voice  of  his 
country,  to  the  supreme  executive  magistracy,  'he 
constantly  adheres  to  her  essential  interests,  and 
with  steady  hand  draws  the  disguising  veil  from  the 
intrigues  of  foreign  enemies  and  the  plots  of  domes 
tic  foes. 

Having  the  honor  of  America  always  in  view, 
never  fearing,  when  wisdom  dictates,  to  stem  the  im 
petuous  torrent  of  popular  resentment,  he  stands 
amid  the  fluctuations  of  party  and  the  explosions  of 
faction,  unmoved  as  Atlas, 

"  While  storms  and  tempest  thunder  on  its  brow, 
And  oceans  break  their  billows  at  its  feet." 

Yet  all  the  vigilance  of  our  Executive,  and  all 
the  wisdom  of  our  Congress,  have  not  been  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  country  from  being  in  some  degree  agi 
tated  by  the  convulsions  of  Europe.  But  why  shall 
every  quarrel  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  in 
terest  us  in  its  issue  ?  Why  shall  the  rise  or  de 
pression  of  every  party  there,  produce  here  a  corre 
sponding  vibration  ?  Was  this  continent  designed  as 
a  mere  satellite  to  the  other  ?  Has  not  nature  here 
wrought  all  operations  on  her  broadest  scale  ?  Where 
are  the  Mississippis  and  the  Amazons,  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  Andes  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  ?  The 
natural  superiority  of  America  clearly  indicates  that 
it  was  designed  to  be  inhabited  by  a  nobler  race  of 
men,  possessing  a  superior  form  of  Government, 
11 


242  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

superior  patriotism,  superior  talents,  and  superior 
virtues. 

Let  then  the  nations  of  the  East  vainly  waste 
their  strength  in  destroying  each  other. 

'Let  them  aspire  at  conquest,  and  contend  for  do 
minion,  till  their  continent  is  deluged  in  blood.  But 
let  none,  however  elated  by  victory,  however  proud  of 
triumph,  ever  presume  to  intrude  on  the  neutral  posi 
tion  assumed  by  our  country. 

Britain,  twice  humbled  for  her  aggressions,  has  at 
length  been  taught  to  respect  us.  But  France,  once 
our  ally,  has  dared  to  insult  us  !  She  has  violated 
her  treaty  obligations — she  has  depredated  our  com 
merce — she  has  abused  our  Government,  and  riveted 
the  chains  of  bondage  on  our  unhappy  fellow-citizens  ! 
Not  content  with  ravaging  and  depopulating  the 
fairest  countries  of  Europe ;  not  yet  satiated  with 
the  contortions  of  expiring  republics,  the  convulsive 
agonies  of  subjugated  nations,  and  the  groans  of  her 
own  slaughtered  citizens — she  has  spouted  her  fury 
across  the  Atlantic ;  and  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the 
United  States  have  almost  been  attacked  in  our  har 
bors  !  "When  we  have  demanded  reparation,  she  has 
told  us,  "  Give  us  your  money  and  we  will  give  you 
peace."  Mighty  nation  !  Magnanimous  Republic  ! 
Let  her  fill  her  coffers  from  those  towns  and  cities 
which  she  has  plundered,  and  grant  peace,  if  she  can, 
to  the  shades  of  those  millions  whose  death  she  has 
caused. 

But  Columbia  stoops  not  to  tyrants ;  her  spirit 
will  never  cringe  to  France ;  neither  a  supercilious, 
five-headed  Directory,  nor  the  gasconading  pilgrim 


FOURTH    OF   JULY    ORATION.  243 

of  Egypt,  will  ever'  dictate  terms  to  sovereign 
America.  The  thunder  of  our  cannon  shall  insure 
the  performance  of  our  treaties,  and  fulminate  de 
struction  on  Frenchmen,  till  the  ocean  is  crimsoned 
with  blood,  and  gorged  with  pirates  ! 

It  becomes  us,  on  whom  the  defence  of  our  coun 
try  will  ere  long  devolve,  this  day  most  seriously  to 
reflect  on  the  duties  incumbent  upon  us. 

Our  ancestors  bravely  snatched  expiring  liberty 
from  the  grasp  of  Britain,  whose  touch  is  poison ; 
shall  we  now  consign  it  to  France,  whose  embrace  is 
death  ?  We  have  seen  our  fathers,  in  the  days  of 
our  country's  trouble,  assume  the  rough  habiliments  of 
war,  and  seek  the  hostile  field.  Too  full  of  sorrow  to 
speak,  we  have  seen  them  wave  a  last  farewell  to  a 
disconsolate,  a  woe-stung  family.  We  have  seen 
them  return,  worn  down  with  fatigue,  and  scarred 
with  wounds ;  or  we  have  seen  them,  perhaps,  no 
more.  For  us  they  fought — for  us  they  bled — for  us 
they  conquered.  Shall  we,  their  descendants,  now 
basely  disgrace  our  lineage  and  pusillanimously  dis 
claim  the  legacy  bequeathed  to  us  ?  Shall  we  pro 
nounce  the  sad  valediction  to  freedom  and  immortal 
liberty  on  the  altars  our  fathers  have  raised  to  her  ? 
No !  The  response  of  the  nation  is,  "  No  !  "  Let  it 
be  registered  in  the  archives  of  Heaven.  Ere  the  re 
ligion  we  profess,  and  the  privileges  we  enjoy  are 
sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  despots  and  damagogues — 
let  the  sons  of  Europe  be  vassals ;  let  her  hosts  of 
nations  be  a  vast  congregation  of  slaves  ;  but  let  us, 
who  are  this  day  free,  whose  hearts  are  yet  unappalled, 
and  whose  right  arms  are  yet  nerved  for  war,  assem- 


244  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

ble  before  the  hallowed  temple  of  American  freedom, 
and  swear,  to  the  God  of  our  fathers,  to  preserve  it 
secure,  or  die  at  its  portals. 

I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  that  the 
boy  who  delivered  that  Oration  was,  to  say  the  least, 
a  clever  boy.  My  informant  says  his  friends  were  so 
much  pleased  with  it,  that  they  obtained  a  copy  for 
publication.  By  this  time,  you  may  say,  it  is 
pretty  "  much  out  of  print,"  but  worthy  of  being  re 
printed.  I  dare  say,  Mr.  Webster  himself  has  en 
tirely  forgotten  it.  It  shows  his  bosom  was  full  of 
patriotism,  and  that  in  his  youth  the  seeds  of  the 
noblest  sentiments  had  taken  deep  root. 

Yours  truly. 


MR.  WEBSTER  STILL  AT  COLLEGE HIS   STUDIES   THE   FOURTH  YEAR 

PERSONAL  APPEARANCE — HIS  EULOGY  ON   THE   DEATH  OF  A  CLASS 
MATE—COMMENCEMENT HIS        CLASSMATES PERFORMANCE HIS 

ORATION HE  IS  MADE  A  BACHELOR  OF  ARTS TAKES    LEAVE. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  II.,  Sept.  —  1349. 

In  the  fourth  and  last  year  of  Mr.  Webster's  col 
lege  life  his  studies  were  Metaphysics  and  Natural 
and  Political  Law ;  his  exercises  were  Compositions 
in  English  and  Latin.  These  were  according  to  the 
regulations  established  as  the  routine  for  the  stu 
dents. 

In  all  the  branches  of  education  taught  at  Dart 
mouth  during  his  sojourn  there,  unprepared  as  he  was 
at  the  outset,  Mr.  Webster  made  himself  a  respect- 


HIS    STUDIES   THE    FOURTH    YEAR.  245 

able  student  ;  in  point  of  fact,  in  all  those  that  bore 
directly  on  the  profession  he  had  resolved  to  pursue, 
he  made  himself  eminent. 

That  rare  faculty  which  Mr.  Webster  possesses 
of  putting  the  knowledge  of  other  men  into  his  own 
crucible,  and  thence  obtaining  the  pure  -metal,  was 
largely  developed  and  cultivated  while  at  college. 

What  his  Professors  knew  he  knew.  The  seed 
which  fell  from  their  ripe  knowledge  and  experience, 
dropped  upon  a  rich  soil,  when  he  was  a  listener,  and 
it  lost  nothing  of  its  virtue  in  the  process  of  repro 
duction. 

*     *     *     Yesterday,  I  had  a  pleasant  interview 
with  a  lady,  who  was,  as  she  says,   "just  entering  her 
teens/'  and  residing  in  Hanover  when  Mr.  Webster 
was  at  Dartmouth.    She  remembers  him  well,  although 
many  years  have  passed.     She  "  can  tell  exactly  how 
he  looked."      She  informs  me  that  Mr.  Webster  was 
slender,  and  evidently  had  a  feeble  constitution.  That 
he  was  a  brunette  in  complexion  ;  that  his  hair  was 
as  black  as  jet,  and  when  turned  back,  there  was 
displayed  a  forehead,  the  sight  of  which  always  ex 
cited  great  admiration.     His  dark  eyes  shone  with 
extraordinary  brilliancy,  and  when  engaged  in  agree 
able  or  amusing  conversation,  he  wore  a  smile  that 
was  bewitching,  and  showed  teeth  as  white  as  pearls. 
He  was  a  great  favorite  in  the  society  at  Hanover, 
which,  though  not  gay.  was  refined  and  distinguished 
for  its  hospitality.     She  said  that  no  young  man  in 
College  was  more  highly  esteemed  by  all  classes^  old 
and  young,  than  Daniel  Webster.     She  often  heard 
him  speak  on  public  occasions ;  and  remembers  his 


246  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

"  Fourth  of  July  Oration,"  before  the  people  of 
Hanover,  and  that  it  made  a  great  sensation. 

While  Mr.  Webster  was  there,  one  of  the  students, 
who  was  also  a  great  favorite,  died.  Mr.  Webster 
was  chosen  by  his  classmates  to  pronounce  a  eulogy 
on  the  occasion.  The  house  was  crowded  to  its  ut 
most  capacity,  and  she  says :  "  The  scene  was  solemn 
and  quite  affecting,  for  there  was  not  a  dry  eye  pre 
sent.  " 

His  name  was  Ephrairn  Simonds,  a  member  of 
the  Senior  Class  of  Dartmouth  College,  who  died  at 
Hanover,  April  17,  1801. 

I  have  not  a  copy  of  the  whole  funeral  oration  he 
delivered,  but  I  will  quote  a  passage  from  the  exordium : 
"  All  of  him  that  was  mortal  now  lies  in  the  charnels 
of  yonder  cemetery.  By  the  grass  that  nods  over 
the  mounds  of  Sumner,  Merrill  and  Cook,  now  rests 
a  fourth  son  of  Dartmouth,  constituting  another  monu 
ment  of  man's  mortality.  The  sun,  as  it  sinks  to  the 
ocean,  plays  its  departing  beams  on  his  tomb,  but  they 
reanimate  him  not.  The  cold  sod  presses  on  his 
bosom  ;  his  hands  hang  down  in  weakness.  The  bird 
of  the  evening  shouts  a  melancholy  air  on  the  poplar, 
but  her  voice  is  stillness  to  his  ears.  While  his  pen 
cil  was  drawing  scenes  of  future  felicity, — while  his 
soul  fluttered  on  the  gay  breezes  of  hope, — an  unseen 
hand  drew  the  curtain,  and  shut  him  from  our  view." 
Mr.  Webster,  at  this  time,  had  been  so  inspired  with 
the  brilliant  and  fervent  style  of  President  Wheelock, 
that  he  gave  stronger  indications  of  rising  to  eminence 
in  poetry  than  in  law  or  politics. 

The  lady  with  whom  I  conversed  says  that  long 


EULOGY  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  CLASSMATE.   24Y 

after  Mr.  Webster  left  college,  other  students,  for 
their  occasional  declamations,  spoke  parts  of  that 
eulogy,  and  even  then  the  hearers  were  often  affected 
to  tears.  A  schoolmate  of  Mr.  Webster  confirmed 
all  this.  I  have  heard  the  eulogy  much  praised. 
Its  composition  proved  that  Mr.  Webster  had  an 
imagination  and  strength  of  fancy  of  the  highest 
order.  It  was  full  of  pathos  ;  and  was  considered 
by  the  students,  and  the  faculty  too,  as  an  extraor 
dinary  production, — indeed,  the  most  splendid  that 
ever  was  heard  within  the  college  walls.  Those  who 
have  read  his  Eulogy  on  the  death  of  the  ex-Presi 
dents  Adams  and  Jefferson,  will  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  he  early  manifested  his  wonderful  capacity 
in  this  respect. 

He  was  never  wanting  in  originality.  His  imagi 
nation  was  of  a  high  order.  I  have  seen  it  stated 
that  he  wrote  poetry,  vigorous,  manly  poetry,  whenever 
he  chose.  In  his  early  productions  there  was  a  gor- 
geousness  of  youthful  fancy,  and  oftentimes  they  were 
full  of  pathos.  But  the  discipline  to  which  he  sub 
jected  his  mind,  incorporated  the  fire  of  the  muse 
with  the  masses  of  law  and  politics  he  was  forging  for 
public  use.  so  that  on  his  first  appearance  after  leav 
ing  college,  all  were  astonished  at  his  close,  vigorous 
and  mature  style.  While  in  college,  there  was  pub' 
lished  a  paper,  edited  by  the  faculty  and  students,  and 
no  pen  was  more  diligent  or  potent  than  that  of  Mr. 
Webster. 

This  excellent  lady,  to  whom  I  am  much  indebted, 
was  kind  enough  to  grant  me  the  perusal  of  several 
old  papers  and  memorandums  touching  Dartmouth 


248  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

College,  which  were  preserved  by  her  departed  bro 
ther,  a  classmate,  and  from  which  I  learn  that  Mr. 
Webster  graduated  during  the  last  week  in  August, 
1801.  This  was  an  important  event  in  his  career; 
and  the  incidents  of  that  period  interested  me  much, 
and  I  dare  say  they  will  you.  Hanover,  on  this  oc 
casion,  was  full  of  people  ;  the  friends  of  the  students 
in  college,  some  from  a  great  distance,  and  the  lovers 
of  learning  from  the  neighboring  counties  were  there, 
to  derive  pleasure  from  the  public  exercises  and  so 
cial  festivities  which  the  Annual  Commencement  of 
Dartmouth  College  always  called  forth. 

The  venerable  and  highly  distinguished  Professor 
Alexander,  of  Princeton,  formerly  of  Virginia,  in 
sonic  notes  he  made  of  a  journey  through  New  Eng 
land,  where  he  passed  the  summer  of  1801,  says  :  "  In 
passing  from  Massachusetts  over  the  mountains  of 
New  Hampshire,  I  lodged  within  a  few  rods  of  the 
house  of  a  farmer,  the  father  of  Hon.  Daniel  Webster. 
The  old  gentleman  came  over  to  the  tavern  in  the 
morning,  and  chatted  for  half  an  hour.  Among  other 
things,  he  said  that  he  had  a  son  at  Dartmouth,  who 
was  about  to  take  his  bachelor's  degree.  The  father 
was  large  in  frame,  high-breasted  and  broad-shoul 
dered,  and.  like  his  son,  had  heavy  eyebrows.  He 
was  an  affable  man,  of  sound  sense  and  considerable 
information,  and  expressed  a  wish  that  I  might  be 
acquainted  with  his  son,  of  whom,  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  he  was  proud." 

Dr.  Alexander  tells  the  following  anecdote  of 
Mr.  Wheelock,  the  president,  of  whom  I  have  before 
spoken : 


HIS    CLASSMATES.  249 


"  Arriving  at  Hanover,  the  seat  of  the  college,  a 
day  or  two  before  the  commencement,  I  put  up  my 
horse,  and  secured  a  room  at  one  of  the  two  public 
houses.  On  the  morning  of  the  commencement  I 
presented  my  letters  to  President  Wheelock,  and  was 
received  with  a  profusion  of  ceremonious  inclinations; 
for  it  was  pleasantly  said  that  the  president  suffered 
no  man  to  have  the  last  bow.  This,  it  was  reported, 
was  put  to  the  test  by  a  person  of  some  assurance, 
who  undertook  to  compete  with  him  in  the  contest  of 
politeness.  He  accordingly  took  his  leave,  bowed 
himself  out  of  the  mansion,  and  continued  to  bow  as 
long  as  he  was  on  the  premises ;  but  the  president 
followed  him  to  the  gate,  and  remained  in  possession 
of  the  field.  Dr.  Wheelock  was  a  man  of  learning, 
especially  in  the  department  of  history.  Such  were 
the  manners  of  the  men  at  the  head  of  the  institution 
where  Mr.  Webster  was  educated. 

The  young  gentlemen  who  graduated  with  Mr. 
Webster,  and  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  were  the  following.  I  have  often  heard  persons 
say  they  should  like  to  know  who  his  classmates  were. 
I  give  their  names : 

Alpheus  Baker,  David  Jewett, 

James  Henry  Bingham,  Joseph  Kimball, 

Lemuel  Bliss,  Sanford  Kingsbury, 

Daniel  Campbell,  Aaron  Loveland, 

John  Dutton,  Simeon  Lyman, 

William  Farrar,  Thomas  Abbott  Merril, 

Habyah  Weld  Fuller,  Josiah  Noyes, 

Charles  Gilbert,  John  Nye, 

Elisha  Hotchkiss,  Daniel  Parker, 

Abner  Howe,  Nathaniel  Shattuck, 

Ebenezer  Jones,  Elisha  Smith, 
11* 


250  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


William  Coit  Smith,  Caleb  Jewett  Tcnneyj 

Asahel  Stone,  Samuel  Upham, 

Matthew  Taylor,  Jabez  B.  Whitaker. 

The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  was  conferred  at 
the  same  time  on  a  young  clergyman  by  the  name  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Worcester. 

The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  was  con 
ferred  at  the  same  time  on  Sylvester  Bay,  John 
March  and  Augustus  Correy. 

The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  then  conferred 
on  Messrs. 


Ezekiel  L.  Bascom, 
Stephen  Bemis, 
James  Davis, 
Phiny  Dickinson, 
Abel  Farley, 
Ebenezer  Flint, 
Alvan  Foot, 
Horace  Hall, 

William  Lambert, 
David  Long, 
Levi  Pilsbery, 
David  Starrett, 
Solon  Stevens, 
Jeremiah  Stinson, 
Josiah  Webster, 
James  W.  Woodward, 
Phinehas  Howe. 

The  following  gentlemen,  on  the  same  occasion, 
received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  out  of  the 
regular  course,  viz. :  Messrs. 

Kiah  Bayley,  Joseph  Powel, 

Silas  Dins  more,  Theophilus  Packard, 

Santael  Alden,  Hiram  Storrs, 

Jabe-z  Munsill,  ,  Daniel  Gilbert. 

The  same  degree  was  conferred  on  Rev.  Sylvester 
Dana  and  Jonathan  Belden,  from  Yale  College ;  Ig 
natius  Thompson,  from  Rhode  Island  College ;  also, 
on  Rev.  Daniel  Barber  and  William  Morrison.  The 


COMMENCEMENT.  2,51 


degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  then  conferred  on 
Nathan  Smith. 

Speaking  of  the  Commencement  and  of  the  exer 
cises  at  the  church  on  that  day,  Dr.  Alexander  says : 
"  At  the  Dartmouth  Commencement,  Gen.  Eaton,  of 
eccentric  memory,  was  marshal  of  the  day,  and  was 
unceasing  in  busying  himself  about  the  order  of  the 
procession  to  the  church ;  giving  to  each  graduate, 
of  every  college,  the  place  due  to  his  seniority. 
Among  the  speakers  was  young  Daniel  Webster. 
Little  dreaming  of  his  future  career  in  law,  elo 
quence,  and  statesmanship,  he  pronounced  a  discourse 
on  the  recent  discoveries  in  Chemistry,  especially 
those  of  Lavoisier,  then  newly  made  public." 

Among  the  number  of  young  gentlemen  above 
named,  are  several  eminent  men.  Since  that  day 
they  have  made  their  mark  on  the  time,  many  have 
departed,  but  some  are  living  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
their  accumulating  honors. 

There  were  at  that  time,  as  there  are  now,  seve 
ral  societies  composed  of  the  students,  and  other 
members  of  the  College.  The  anniversaries  of  those 
societies,  were  held  on  the  occasion  of  the  commence 
ment;  and  before  each  society,  some  member  was 
chosen  to  make  an  address,  preach  a  sermon,  or  de 
liver  an  oration.  My  informant  tells  me  that  to  be 
selected  for  either  of  these  duties  was  a  mark  of  dis 
tinction  higher  and  more  appreciated  than  any  other. 
None  but  those  of  acknowledged  abilities  and  great 
attainments  were  even  thought  of,  as  candidates  for 
such  honors.  The  Faculty  of  the  College  awarded 
honors  according  to  certain  rules,  which  they  had  pre- 


252  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

viously  prescribed,  and  which  were  according  to  the 
usage  of  other  Institutions ;  having  regard  to  punc 
tuality  at  prayers,  and  at  recitations,  and  regarding 
the  manner  in  which  the  student  had  observed  all 
the  little  orders  and  regulations  made  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  College,  as  well  as  to  the  improvement 
each  one  had  made  in  all  the  studies  pursued  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  course.  The  exer 
cises  of  the  students  began  on  Monday  and  ended  on 
Wednesday.  Monday  and  Tuesday  were  devoted  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  societies.  Mr.  Bingham  was 
chosen  to  speak  before  the  "  Musical  Society,"  and 
his  oration  was  on  the  "  Harmony  of  Sounds." 

Mr.  Merril  was  selected  by  the  society  of  "  Social 
Friends,"  and  his  oration  was  on  the  subject  of  "  Fire." 

A  young  clergyman,  by  the  name  of  Rev.  Elijah 
Parish,  was  chosen  to  preach  a  discourse  before  the 
"  Literary  Adelphi,"  and  his  text  was,  "  He  shall  be 
called  Wonderful." 

The  Rev.  Eliphalet  Gillet,  preached  a  discourse 
before  the  ':  Phi  Beta  Kappa"  from  these  words, 
"  Take  fast  hold  of  instruction  ;  let  her  not  go  ;  keep 
her,  for  she  is  thy  life." 

A  Latin  oration  on  "  The  Prosperity  of  America," 
with  the  salutatory  addresses,  were  delivered  by  Mr. 
Thomas  A.  Merril. 

There  was  a  forensic  dispute  on  this  subject :  "  Is 
the  earth  an  oblate  spheroid  ?"  by  Mr.  Abner  Howe 
and  Mr.  Daniel  Parker. 

A  philosophical  oration  on  the  "  Intellectual  Sys 
tem,"  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Simeon  Lyman. 

A  dialogue  on  "  Algerme  Piracy,"  by  Mr.  David 


COMMENCEMENT    ORATION.  253 


Jewett  and  Mr.  Asahel  Stone,  was  among  the  exer 
cises. 

A  Hebrew  oration,  or  an  address  on  the  "  Fear  of 
the  Lord,"  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Shattuck. 
And  there  was  an  English  oration  on  "  Education," 
with  the  valedictory  addresses,  by  Mr.  Caleb  J.  Ten- 
ney,  a  young  gentleman  of  fine  talents,  and  the  most 
punctual  and  ardent  student  in  College. 

But  the  most  numerous,  and,  at  that  time,  the 
most  important  society,  was  the  one  known  as  "  The 
United  Fraternity."     This  society  unanimously  des 
ignated  Mr.  Webster  to  deliver  an  oration  before  its 
members,  and   all   classes  were,  of  course,  invited. 
The  audience  was  large.     The  few  occasions  on  which 
he  had  appeared  before  the  public  had  already  made 
him  famous.     His  oration  was  on  "  The  Influence  of 
Opinion."     I  need  not  add  that  he  acquitted  himself 
well,  for  I  have  already  told  you  enough  to  enable 
you  to  anticipate  that  fact.     The  fame  of  that  ora 
tion  was  widely  spread,  and  is  not  forgotten  to  this 
day  by  his  schoolmates,  with  whom  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  conversing.      One  of  the  old  papers   I 
have  read,  modestly  says  : — "  A  numerous  audience 
manifested  a  high  degree  of  satisfaction  at  the  genius 
displayed,"  and  that  "elegance  of  composition  and 
propriety  of  delivery  distinguished  the  performance." 
On  the  26th  day  of  August,  1801,  at  11£  o'clock, 
A.  M.,the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Executive  Author 
ity,  gentlemen  of  literary  character,  candidates  for 
the  Degree  of  Bachelor  6f  Arts,  and  members  of  the 
Institution,  walked  in  procession  from  the  President's 
to  the  Meeting  House.     There  the  honors  were  con- 


254  MEMORIALS    OP    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ferred,  and  Mr.  Webster  and  his  classmates  took 
leave  of  each  other  and  of  the  President,  the  profes 
sors  and  tutors  of  the  College  then  separated,  each, 
one  to  pursue  his  own  path  for  "  weal  or  wo."  No 
student  ever  left  College  with  more  blessings  on  his 
head.  His  future  eminence  was  distinctly  foretold 
by  all  the  careful  observers  of  men  ;  and  the  result 
has  excelled  the  most  sanguine  of  his  most  partial 
friends. 

Yours  truly. 


MR,    WEBSTER,   IS    THE    PRINCIPAL    OF    TUE    FKYEBURG  ACADEMY HE 

STUDIES  LAW  WITH  THOMAS  W.  THOMPSON. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 
In  January,  after  Mr.  Webster  left  college,  he 
went  to  Fryeburg,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  to  take 
charge  of  an  academy,  for  which  he  .was  proposed  or 
recommended  by  Rev.  Dr.  John  Smith,  Professor  of 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  the  Oriental  languages.  What 
ever  lie  said  was  high  authority.  This  Dr.  Smith 
(who  was  Mr.  Webster's  ardent  friend.)  published  the 
New  Hampshire  Latin  Grammar. ''an  edition  of  Ci 
cero's  Orations  in  Latin,  with  Notes,"  and  a  "  Hebrew 
Grammar,  designed  to  facilitate  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures."  He  was  an  eminent  scholar.  He,  too, 
was  one  of  those  "who  taught  that  boy."  As  all 
feel  an  interest  in  knowing  something  about  those  who 
participated  in  shaping  the  mind  of  Mr.  Webster,  I 
say  something  of  each  of  them  as  I  proceed.  His 
taking  charge  of  this  Academy  was  an  important  step 


PRINCIPAL    OF    FRYEBURG    ACADEMY.  255 

•  

in  climbing  the  hill  of  Fame.  At  Dartmouth  Col 
lege,  it  was  a  principle  instilled  into  the  mind  of  every 
student — and  the  same  idea  existed  throughout  the 
gtate — that  there  was  no  occupation,  no  profession, 
more  honorable  than  that  of  instructing  the  youth  of 
the  country.  All  classes  combined  to  weave  chaplets 
for,  and  to  award  due  honors  to,  the  meritorious  teach 
er  of  an  academy  or  a  school.  None  were  permitted 
to  attempt  that  business  unless  men  of  learning ;  so 
that  under  such  circumstances,  it  was  a  high  calling. 
The  graduates  at  Dartmouth  were  early  distinguished 
in  this  respect  for  the  good  they  did,  not  only  to  the 
rising  generation,  but  to  themselves.  I  have  just 
read  a  discourse  on  this  subject,  delivered  by  Na 
thaniel  Bouton  in  1833.  Among  other  things  he 
says : 

"On  the  triple  foundation  of  the  learned  lan 
guages,  mathematics,  and  moral  and  intellectual  phi 
losophy,  the  sons  of  Dartmouth  build  high  and 
enduring  superstructions  of  personal  fame  and  public 
usefulness.  As-  citizens  of  New  Hampshire,  we  owe 
much  to  the  influence  of  this  College,  in  elevating  the 
character  of  our  primary  schools  and  academies,  and 
in  promoting  education  through  our  country.  From 
its  first  establishment,  about  three-fourths  of  all  the 
students  have  taught  schools  during  some  portion  of 
each  year.  For  five  years  past  the  average  number 
of  students  has  been  one  hundred  and  fifty-five,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  five  have  been  teachers, 
ordinarily  for  a  term  of  three  months.  Within  the 
last  two  years  the  number  of  students  has  been  one 
hundred  and  seventy ;  of  whom  three-fourth*  have 


256  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEDSTER, 

» _^,. 

been  teachers.  More  graduates  from  this  College 
are  now  teaching,"  said  he,  "in  New  England,  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  particularly  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  than  from  any  other  College  that  is 
known." 

An  idea  prevailed,  that  teaching  was  most  salu 
tary  in  its  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  It 
aroused  the  recollections,  and  fixed  on  the  memory 
more  firmly,  what  the  teacher  had  striven  to  learn, 
It  enabled  the  graduate  to  see,  by  a  little  practice, 
where  the  web  of  his  learning  was  most  weak ;  and 
in  the  outset  to  remedy  the  defect.  The  most  emi 
nent  men  in  New  England,  forty  years  ago,  acted  on 
this  idea ;  and  the  result  is,  that  this  section  of  the 
United  States  is  in  advance  of  all  others  in  solid 
education.  New  Hampshire  is  excelled  only  by 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut ;  and  those  States 
are  perhaps  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  world  ;  that 
is,  there  are  more  educated  men  in  proportion  to  the 
whole  number  of  the  people.  Hearing  of  young  Mr. 
Webster  at  Dartmouth,  through  Mr.  Smith  and 
others,  the  Trustees  of  the  Fryeburg  Academy,  then 
recently  founded,  appointed  him  the  principal  of 
their  Seminary,  and  he  accepted  the  place.  He  never 
had  occasion  to  regret  it. 

Fryeburg  is  a  beautiful  town  in  Oxford  County, 
in  the  State  of  Maine.  It  consists  of  barren  hills 
and  fertile  valleys.  The  intervening  lands  are  of  the 
richest  kind.  The  hills  are  lofty  and  romantic. 
The  principal  village  is  situated  on  a  plain,  surround 
ed  by  those  hills ;  and  is  watered  by  the  river  Saco. 
Although  the  township  is  but  six  miles  square,  yet, 


PRINCIPAL  OF  FRYEBURG  ACADEMY.      25? 

that  beautiful  river  in  its  fantastic  meanderings,  runs 
a  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles,  in  passing  from 
one  boundary  to  the  other.  More  bewitching  scenery 
is  seldom  found  in  this  land  of  beautiful  scenes.  For 
ages  past,  that  town,  the  olden  name  of  which  was 
Pequawket,  had  been  occupied  by  the  Indians,  and 
improved  by  their  successors ;  the  earliest  inhabit 
ants  of  New  England.  At  a  short  distance  from 
the  village,  is  "  Lovewetl's  Pond,"  a  beautiful  sheet 
of  water,  to  which  Mr.  Webster  often  resorted  with 
his  fishing  tackle  for  amusement  and  healthful  recre 
ation.  He  was  then  nineteen  years  old.  On  the 
afternoons  of  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  he  was 
often  seen  alone  in  his  boat,  floating  on  the  surface 
of  that  water,  which  was  so  transparent,  that  he 
appeared  to  be  suspended  between  earth  and  sky — 
angling  among  the  smaller  finny  tribe,  as  the  sage  of 
Marshfield  is  now  often  seen  in  his  yacht?  on  the  more 
turbulent  waters  of  the  ocean,  angling  for  codfish  and 
halibut.  This  amusement  was  then,  as  it  now  is, — 
his  repose  from  study  and  deep  thought. 

"  Lovewell's  Pond"  was  made  famous  by  "  Love- 
well's  fight."  Capt.  John  Lovewell,  as  long  ago  as 
1725,  with  thirty-four  men,  fought  a  famous  Indian 
named  Paugus,  at  the  head  of  eighty  savages3  on  the 
shores  of  this  beautiful  pond.  Both  parties  entered 
the  combat  determined  to  conquer  or  die.  They 
fought  till  both  Lovewell  and  Paugus  were  slain. 
Sixty  of  the  Indians,  and  all  but  nine  of  the  whites, 
"  bit  the  dust."  Finally,  the  remaining  twenty  sava 
ges  fled,  leaving  nine  of  Lovewell's  men  victors  of 
the  field.  This  scene  is  visited  with  interest  by  all, 


258  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

whether  travellers  or  sojourners,  who  have  ever  heard 
the  story.  It  is,  indeed,  an  interesting  spot.  Mr. 
Webster  occupied  his  place  at  that  academy  until  the 
following  September,  nine  months.  During  this  period, 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  he  passed  in 
review  his  studies  at  College,  clinched  every  nail,  and 
supplied  every  defect.  While  there,  he  also  enjoyed 
the  pleasures  of  an  agreeable  and  intelligent  society. 
Among  his  associates,  he  included  several  well-bred 
ladies  and  gentlemen.  There  was  one,  Rev.  Wm. 
Fessenden,  a  man  of  great  learning  and  distinguished 
piety,  for  whom  Mr.  Webster  had  a  particular  regard. 
His  house  was  open  to  him  at  all  times.  He  had  a 
fine  library,  to  the  use  of  which  the  youthful  philoso 
pher  was  invited ;  and  that  great  and  good  man  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  had  Mr.  Webster  with 
him.  He  took  infinite  pleasure  in  conversing  with  a 
youthful  and  vigorous  mind,  fresh  from  College,  and 
he  imparted  to  him  all  that  could  be  given  from  his 
best  experience,  and  the  fruit  of  his  observations 
during  scores  of  years.  The  great  truths  of  philo 
sophy  and  religion  were  themes  on  which  they  dwelt 
with  mutual  satisfaction.  When  we  remember  the 
strong  adherence  of  Mr.  Webster's  father  to  reli 
gious  principles  and  practices,  the  influence  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Wood,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  of  Dartmouth  Col 
lege,  his  early  and  devoted  friends,  and  afterwards 
the  friendship  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  we  can  readily  ac 
count  for  the  confident  opinions  which  are  entertained 
by  Mr.  Webster  on  religious  subjects,  and  which  have 
always  been  visible  in  every  thing  he  has  said  and 
done. 


STUDIES    LAW.  259 


While  Mr.  Webster  resided  at  Fryeburg  he  found 
he  could  do  more  than  was  set  down  for  him  to  do  as 
the  Principal  of  the  Academy.  The  office  of  Assist 
ant  Register  in  that  place  being  vacant  he  was  chosen 
to  discharge  the  duties.  He  occupied  several  hours 
of  each  twenty-four  in  recording  deeds,  for  which  he 
received  considerable  money,  and  all  of  which  he  ap 
propriated  to  the  defraying  of  the  expenses  of  his 
brother  Ezekiel  at  College.  At  the  close  of  the 
duties  which  devolved  upon  him,  and  which  he  had  so 
well  performed,  the  appointing  power  felt  called  on  to 
pass  resolutions  and  give  him  some  testimonial  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  he  had  done  what  he  had  under 
taken. 

The  time  had  now  come  when  Mr.  Webster  was 
to  prepare  himself  more  thoroughly  and  particularly 
(though  he  little  thought  then  of  the  extent)  to  be 
the  teacher  of  nations.  His  plans  for  self-improve 
ment  would  not  permit  him  to  spend  any  more  time 
in  teaching  others  the  simple  rudiments  of  learning. 
He  therefore  resigned  his  place  at  Fryeburg,  grateful 
for  the  benefits  it  had  conferred  on  him  personally, 
and  returned  to  Elms  Farm.  He  entered  the  office 
of  his  friend  and  neighbor,  Thomas  W.  Thompson,  as 
a  student  at  law,  in  which  office  he  had  formerly  sat 
a  little  barefooted  boy,  to  tell  the  clients  who  called, 
where  Mr.  Thompson  had  gone,  and  when  he  would 
return. 

At  this  time,  there  were  only  eighty  lawyers  prac 
tising  at  the  Superior  and  Inferior  Courts,  in  the 
whole  State.  Mr.  Thompson  was  one  in  good  stand 
ing  among  them.  I  will  here  speak  briefly  of  him. 


260  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

He  was  born  in  Boston,  and  was  the  son  of  Deacon 
Thompson,  an  Englishman.  His  mother  was  a  Scotch 
woman.  While  he  was  young,  his  father  removed 
(taking  his  son  with  him)  to  Newburyport.  He  was 
fitted  for  College  by  Samuel  Moody,  and  graduated 
afc  Cambridge  in  1786.  At  the  time  of  the  "Shay's 
Rebellion,"  he  entered  the  army  as  an  aid  to  General 
Lincoln,  and  served  throughout  the  campaign  during 
a  severe  winter,  and  until  the  insurrection  was  quelled. 
He  first  studied  Theology  to  qualify  himself  for  the 
pulpit.  He  was,  however,  appointed  a  Tutor  in  Col 
lege,  at  Cambridge,  and  was  a  favorite  among  the 
students,  owing  to  the  suavity  of  his  manners,  and 
his  natural,  easy,  and  unaffected  politeness.  After 
this  he  studied  law  at  Newburyport  with  Theophilus 
Parsons,  named  "  the  Giant  of  the  Law."  He  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  opened  an  oflice  near  the 
South  Meeting  House,  in  Salisbury  ;  and  in  about  a 
year  afterwards,  he  removed  to  this  place,  and  boarded 
with  Mr.  Webster's  father.  In  due  time,  he  bought 
a  house  for  himself.  He  had  an  extensive  and  lucra 
tive  practice.  He  made  himself  rich  by  his  profes 
sion.  He  was  one  of  the  Trustee's  of  Dartmouth  Col 
lege  at  the  time  Mr.  Webster  graduated,  and  con 
tinued  to  be  an  active  and  efficient  member  of  the 
Board  till  his  death.  From  1805  to  1807,  he  was  a 
Representative  in  Congress.  He  was  several  times 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  his  State,  and  was 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  when  the 
excitement  of  party  politics  was  high ;  but  his  oppo 
nents  and  every  member  willingly  bore  testimony  to 
his  candor,  his  ability  and  impartiality  in  the  dis- 


A    NARROW    ESCAPE.  261 

charge  of  his  duties.  He  was  also  a  Senator  in  Con 
gress  from  this  State,  and  acquitted  himself  with 
honor.  In  1809  he  removed  from  this  place  to  Con 
cord,  the  seat  of  Government. 

In  August,  1819,  he  set  out  for  Quebec,  and  was 
on  board  the  steamboat  Fhcenix,  from  Burlington  on 
the  route  to  Canada,  when,  at  midnight  it  took  fire. 
The  vessel  was  all  in  flames,  the  passengers  were  all 
escaping  in  small  boats,  and  he  was  still  asleep', — 
waking,  he  saw  his  situation,  jumped  into  the  last 
boat,  already  filled  to  sinking,  and  was  the  last  person 
who  escaped.  The  terrors  and  fatigues  of  that  dread 
ful  night  made  him  sick,  and,  finally,  put  an  end  to 
his  life.  He  was  a  fine  scholar  and  accomplished 
gentleman,  and  highly  respected  in  this  State.  Such 
is  the  man  with  whom  Mr.  Webster  commenced  the 

study  of  the  law. 

Yours  truly. 


KND   OF   VOL,    L 


LIFE    AND   MEMORIALS 


OF 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


FROM    THE    NEW-YORK    DAILY    TIMES. 


VOLUME  II. 


NEW  YOKK: 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

846    &    848    BROADWAY, 
M.DCOO.LVIII. 


CONTENTS.-VOL,  II. 


MEMORIALS   OF    DANIEL  WEBSTEE.— Continued. 

OFFICE  IN  WHICH  ME.  WEBSTER  STUDIED  LAW — WHAT 
BOOKS  HE  READ — ACQUIRES  A  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE 
PRACTICE— ANECDOTE  OF  HIS  FIRMNESS  AND  TACT 5 

MR.   WEBSTER  STUDIES   LAW   IN   BOSTON — CHRISTOPHER 

GORE — Is   ADMITTED    TO   PRACTICE — His   FlRST   CAUSE..       12 

OPENS  A  LAW  OFFICE — BOSCAWEN — His  FIRST  CRIMINAL 
CASE — His  LEGAL  OPPONENTS 21 

His  PREPARATION  OF  HIS  CASES — ATTENDS  TO  GENERAL 
LITERATURE — ORATION  AT  CONGO  KD — ONE  OF  HIS  PRO 
FESSORS  AT  DARTMOUTH — SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  HIM 27 

HEALTH  BAD — REMOVES  TO  PORTSMOUTH — OFTEN  MEETS 
MR.  MASON — MARRIED — TAKES  PART  IN  POLITICS — 
GREAT  MEETING  IN  ROCKINGHAM — UPHOLDS  THE  UNION 
— His  POPULARITY  IN  PORTSMOUTH 35 

MR.  WEBSTER  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS — FIRST  SPEECH  AND 
RESOLUTIONS 45 

MR.  WEBSTER  AT  HOME — WELCOME 53 

EARLY  RISING — FRUITS  AND  OTHER  PRODUCTS — COD  FISH 
ING — FISH  HOUSE — SETH  PETERSON — How  TO  MAKE 
CHOWDER 55 

ANOTHER  DAY  AT  MARS  HFIELD— THE  FARM— THE  WINS- 
LOWS—  FORESTS— CATTLE— SHEEP— CROPS  ...  .  64 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

EIDE  TO  PLYMOUTH — ANECDOTES  ON  THE  WAY — KILLS  A 
DEER 72 

VISIT  OF  GEN.  BERTRAND  TO  MR.  WEBSTER — CONVERSA 
TION  ON  AGRICULTURE 79 

SECOND  VIS.IT  TO   MARSIIFIELD — TALKS  ON  AGRICULTURE.  83 

PLANTING  TREES 88 

HABIT  OF  EARLY  EISING — STILL   TALKS  ON  AGRICULTURE  94 

OPINION  OF  SIR  EGBERT  PEEL 100 

THANKSGIVING — CONVERSATION  ON  SHEEP 105 

J^"  ANECDOTES — His  LIBRARY,  ETC 110 

PUBLIC  MEETING 113 

A  TRIP  ALONG  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT 114 

THE   BOOKS    MR.   WEBSTEB   READS — How  HE   READS — 
EESPECT  OF  THE  PEOPLE 118 

MR.  WEBSTER  AND  A  PARTY  COD  FISHING 122 

HORTICULTURE — PRESERVES   BIRDS   AND   SQUIRRELS — FA 
MOUS  HORSE — FISHING  WITH  LADIES,  ETC 127 

TRIP  VIA  NEWPORT — MR.  WEBSTER   WITH   AN   EVENING 
AT  MARSIIFIELD — Music 133 

His  EAMBLES  OVER  THE  FIELDS,  ETC 137 

COMMITTEE  CALLS  ON  MR.  WEBSTER — PRESENT  FROM  AFAR  141 

MR.    WEBSTER   PREPARES   FOR  A   SPEECH — His  DRESS — 
VIEWS  ON  THE  SUBJECT,  ETC 142 

NOTES  OF  TRIP  TO  NEW  HAMPSHIRE — IN  COURT — LETTER 
ABOUT  HIMSELF,  ETC 148 

MAKES  His  7TH  OF  MARCH  SPEECH 154 

SPEECH  OF  EDWAKD  EVEEETT  ON  THE  DEATH 
OF  ME.  WEBSTEE,  AT  A  MEETING  OF  THE  CITI 
ZENS  OF  BOSTON..,  ,.  161 


CONTENTS. 


SPEECH   OF   EUFUS    CHOATE   BEFORE   THE   SUF-™ 
FOLK  BAE,  BOSTON,  ON  OCCASION  OF  THE  DE 
CEASE  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER 172 

EULOGY   BY   GEORGE   S.    HILLARD,  IN  FANEUIL 
HALL,  NOVEMBER  30,  1852 192 

PERSONAL  ANECDOTES,  LETTERS,  REMINISCENCES, 

TRIBUTES,  ETC 231 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  "WEBSTER, 

AT  CONCORD,  N.  H 231 

THE  REV.  DR.  HAWKS'S  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  RESOLU 
TIONS  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  WEBSTER,  BEFORE  THE  NEW- 
YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 234 

MR.  WEBSTER  IN  COLLEGE 238 

DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  FAMILY  RECOLLECTIONS 240 

MR.   WEBSTER'S   LIBRARY,  AND   CONVERSATION  ON  THE 

SCRIPTURES 243 

MR.  WEBSTER  ON  THE  EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY 245 

MR.  WEBSTER  IN  1830 248 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  LETTER  ON  THE  MORNING 249 

MR.   WEBSTER'S  DEDICATION   OF  HIS   Six  VOLUMES   OF 

SPEECHES 251 

THE   GREAT  ARE  FALLING  FROM  us.    BY  T.  BUCHANAN 

READ 255 

LETTERS  OF  MR.  WEBSTER  TO  ins  FARMER,  JOHN  TAY 
LOR,  AT  FRANKLIN,  N.  II 256 

WEBSTER  AND  FRANKLIN 260 

His   LETTER  TO  HIS  OLD  SCHOOLMASTER,  "  MASTER^BAP- 

PAN." 261 

MR.  WEBSTER  AND  THE  FARMER 262 

His  RECREATIONS 263 

A  STAGE-COACH  ANECDOTE 265 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB. 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  RELIGIOUS  CONVICTIONS 266 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  TABLE-TALK — STORY  or  THE  BOBBER...  267 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  DEVOTIONAL  SPIRIT 269 

TWENTY-FOURTH  OF  OCTOBER,  1852.    BY  T.   W.  PAR 
SONS,  JUN 272 

DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  LAST  HOURS 275 

DEATH 279 

THE  MEN  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH 281 

A  CONVERSATION  ON  ENGLAND 28:i 

ME.  WEBSTER'S  BRIEFS. 285 


L I  B  R  A  R  Y 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFORNIA. 


MEMORIALS  OF  MR.  WEBSTER, 

IN   A   SERIES   OP    LETTERS    FROM    ELMS    FARM 
AND    MARSHFIELD. 


OFFICE   IN   WHICH   MR,    WEBSTER   STUDIED    LAW WHAT    BOOKS    HE 

READ — ACQUIRES    A    KNOWLEDGE    OF   THE    PRACTICE ANECDOTE 

OF   HIS    FIRMNESS  AND    TACT. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 
*  *  *  THE  office  in  which  Mr.  Webster  stu 
died  law,  is  still  standing  on  the  easterly  side  of  the 
old  turnpike  road  through  this  valley,  about  thirty 
rods  from  his  old  homestead.  It  was  built  by  Mr. 
Thompson,  considerably  more  than  a  half  century 
ago.  It  is  a  small  wood  building,  one  story  high, 
having  a  very  ancient  appearance.  It  is  divided 
into  two  rooms,  and  a  narrow  hall ;  the  chimney  in 
the  centre  of  the  building,  with  a  wide,  old-fashioned 
fireplace  in  the  front  room :  the  front  door  or  main 
entrance  in  the  centre  of  the  front  side,  and  a  win 
dow  on  each  side  of  the  front  door,  two  windows  on 
each  side  of  the  office,  affording  a  good  light  to  each 
of  the  rooms,  with  one  in  the  hall.  The  front  room 
was  the  place  for  the  general  business  of  the  office  ; 
the  back  room  for  study  and  consultations  with  cli- 


6  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ents.  On  the  right-hand  side  of  the  front  entrance, 
Mr.  Thompson  made  a  sort  of  fence,  or  small  balus 
trade  ;  inclosing  a  space  about  seven  by  nine  feet, 
resembling  the  inclosures  in  many  of  the  counting- 
rooms  in  your  city.  In  that,  he  sat  by  an  old  table, 
and  book-case,  in  an  old  arm-chair,  and  sometimes 
stood  at  a  desk,  inclosed  within  the  railing.  On  the 
left-hand  side  stood  a  large  book-case,  containing  the 
law  library.  The  council-room  was  furnished  with  a 
plain  table,  covered  with  green  cloth,  standing  under 
the  window,  with  several  substantial  chairs.  This 
room  was  warmed  in  winter  by  an  old  fashioned  box 
stove.  There  is  a  side  door  opening  into  the  path 
way,  leading  to  the  house  near  by,  in  which  Mr. 
Thompson  dwelt.  The  office  is  shaded  by  two  mag 
nificent  elms,  standing  in  front,  and  extending  their 
long  branches  over  it.  Those  trees  were  planted 
many  years  before  the  period  of  which  I  am  speaking. 
The  premises  are  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Parker 
Noyes,  Esq.,  a  venerable  counsellor-at-law,  who  was 
a  student  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Thompson,  and  had 
been  two  years  before  Mr.  Webster  began  to  study. 
Mr.  Noyes,  in  due  time  being  admitted  to  practice 
at  the  bar,  and  becoming  an  eminent  man  in  his  pro 
fession,  took  the  business  of  Mr.  Thompson;  and, 
some  time  about  the  year  1809,  became  the  proprietor 
of  the  office,  house  and  the  lands,  together  with  a 
portion  of  his  law  library.  I  have  had  several  con 
versations  with  this  distinguished  old  gentleman  dur 
ing  my  sojourn  here ;  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for 
many  of  these  reminiscences.  I  called  on  his  excel 
lent  and  polite  lady  to-day,  who,  with  a  rusty  and 


WHAT    BOOKS    HE    READ. 


ancient-looking  key,  kindly  unlocked  the  door  and 
admitted  me  to  view  the  office.  There  stand  the 
identical  tables,  book-cases,  desks  and  chairs,  which 
stood  there  in  Mr.  Webster's  time.  It  is  still  a  law- 
office  ;  but  years  and  years  have  gone  by  since  the 
venerable  proprietor  (who  is  rich  enough  to  forego 
the  practice  of  the  law)  gave  audience  to  his  clients 
in  those  rooms.  There  are  the  old  registers  of  law 
suits,  with  entries  made  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr. 
Webster;  and  there  are  the  old  books,  on  whose 
pages  his  mind  dwelt  so  intently,  and  from  which 
he  drew  some  of  the  knowledge  to  which  the  most 
eminent  judges  have  so  often  listened,  to  be  instructed 
and  convinced.  I  have  seldom  visited  a  place  fraught 
with  more  interest  to  me  than  the  interior  of  that  old 
law-office.  I  looked  upon  it  as  a  valuable  memento 
of  the  days  of  his  youth.  If  I  owned  it,  I  would 
have  it  inclosed  in  a  larger  building,  which  would 
preserve  it  for  future  generations  to  look  at. 

The  first  book  that  Mr.  Thompson  put  into  Mr. 
Webster's  hands  was  Coke  upon  Littleton.  This  he 
read  regularly  six  hours  in  the  morning,  while  in  the 
afternoon  he  read  Hume's  History  of  England,  and 
Shakspeare's  Plays.  Day  after  day,  he  sat  in  the 
back  room  of  that  little  office,  and  pored  over  the 
productions  of  those  master  minds.  He  made  him 
self  familiar  with  those  books,  but,  so  far  as  Coke 
upon  Littleton  was  concerned,  Mr.  Thompson  made 
a  sad  mistake.  It  was  not  the  law  book  on  which  he 
should  have  made  a  beginning.  I  remember  that  I 
heard  Mr.  Webster  comment  on  this  mistake.  He 
said  he  was  a  long  time  groping  about  in  the  dark, 


8  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

believing,  of  course,  that  he  should  come  to  light, 
but  he  could  not  foresee  when  or  whereabouts.  It 
was  not  until  he  took  up  Espinasse  Nisi  Prius  and 
Blackstone's  Commentaries  that  he  discovered  the 
mistake ;  and  he  thenceforth  insisted  that  he  lost 
much  time  in  unravelling  black-letter  webs  and  de 
ducing  premises,  which  he  found  had  been  clearly 
unravelled  and  deduced  by  others. 

There  were  then  no  books  of  practice  and  forms 
in  the  office,  like  Tidd's,  and  Graham's,  and  a  host  of 
others,  written  since  then.  This  was  long  before 
Kent  had  written  his  Commentaries.  There  was 
nothing  visible  to  him.  He  has  told  me  if  Mr. 
Thompson  had  shown  him  at  the  outset,  or  had 
placed  in  his  hands  one  of  each  kind  of  the  writs 
issued  in  a  suit,  together  with  one  of  each  kind  of 
the  papers,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end — for  in 
stance,  a  Declaration,  a  Demurrer,  a  Plea,  a  Record, 
and  a  Judgment  Roll — so  that  he  could  have  had 
ocular  demonstration  of  what  each  contained,  and 
could  have  read  it,  and  turned  it  over,  and  looked  at 
it  inside  and  out,  he  would  have  saved  himself  much 
labor,  and  his  path  would  have  been  illuminated  be 
yond  what  many  persons  would,  perhaps,  readily 
admit.  He  said  he  would  earnestly  recommend  that 
every  teacher  of  law  students  should  do  what  Mr. 
Thompson  omitted  to  do,  when  he  began  to  study 
law;  that  is,  first  to  show  them  the  documents  about 
which  they  are  to  read. 

The  second  book  Mr.  Thompson  gave  him  was 
'•  Espinasse  Nisi  Prius."  This,  too,  he  continued  to 
read  for  six  hours  in  the  morning,  while  he  con- 


ACQUIRES    A    KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    PRACTICE.          9 

tinued  to  read  Hume  and  Shakspeare  in  the  after 
noon.  Beading  Espinasse,  be  saw  the  framework  of 
the  law,  and  how  extensive  was  the  science  he  had 
undertaken  to  master.  He  no  longer  pursued  his 
way  in  the  dark;  every  new  book  he  encountered 
was  a  feast  of  reason,  for  which  he  was  prepared. 
To-day,  I  saw  the  two  musty  volumes  of  Espiuasse 
which  he  read.  They  are  of  an  old  English  edition, 
and,  at  a  little  distance,  look  like  a  couple  of  Psalm 
books.  Mr.  Noyes  has  intimated  that  he  will  let  me 
have  them.  I  will  preserve  them  carefully  if  he  will. 

In  the  course  of  a  year  from  the  time  he  entered 
the  office,  he  acquired, — says  Mr.  Noyes, — considera 
ble  knowledge  of  business,  and  gave  great  satisfac 
tion  and  assistance  to  Mr.  Thompson.  During  the 
second  year,  he  showed  himself  a  sound  lawyer. 
When  clients  came  for  advice,  he  heard  with  Mr. 
Thompson  a  full  statement  of  the  facts,  and  there 
upon  he,  again  and  again,  wrote  out  opinions,  which 
Mr.  Thompson,  on  perusal,  adopted,  signed,  and  de 
livered  as  his  own.  He  also  displayed  great  tact  in 
conducting  the  lawsuits  pending,  in  marshaling  the 
testimony,  and  in  eliciting  from  witnesses  the  facts 
to  be  proved  on  the  trials.  Many  men,  not  profound 
lawyers,  have  become  eminent  in  their  profession, 
and  have  paved  their  way  to  wealth,  by  their  skill  in 
conducting  a  cause  before  it  was  brought  to  the  bar 
for  trial.  I  will  relate  an  anecdote,  told  to  me  to 
day,  by  the  son  of  one  of  the  parties,  as  a  sample  of 
the  tact  of  Mr.  Webster,  at  that  early  day,  in  bring 
ing  delinquents  to  the  mark. 

A  turnpike  was  being  built  by  Captain  Kimball, 


10  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

an  energetic  man,  whose  contract  was  founded  on  sub 
scriptions  for  the  money,  by  men  of  property  along 
the  line ;  and  especially  at  Portsmouth.  In  the 
midst  of  his  work,  many  of  the  subscribers,  for  some 
peculiar  reason,  refused  to  pay  the  amount  they  had 
subscribed. 

Captain  Kimball  applied  to  Mr.  Thompson  for  ad 
vice,  and  legal  aid  to  obtain  the  money.  The  con 
tractor  could  not  very  well  wait  on  the  law's  delay. 
Mr.  Thompson  wrote  to  the  subscribers  urgent  let 
ters.  This  did  not  obtain  the  money.  Becoming 
more  earnest,  he  sent  Mr.  Noyes,  his  eldest  student, 
to  them  personally,  but  Mr.  Noyes  returned  without 
the  required  funds.  Mr.  Webster,  on  hearing  the 
ill  success  with  which  the  parties  had  met,  said, 
';  Let  me  go  to  Portsmouth,  I  will  bring  you  the 
money."  A  horse  was  speedily  brought  to  the  door, 
and  as  speedily  he  set  out  on  his  expedition.  With 
his  horse  foaming  he  entered  the  town,  saw  some  of 
the  subscribers,  and  sent  word  to  others,  informing 
them  that  the  object  of  his  visit  was  to  get  the  mo 
ney  !  At  the  same  time  he  sent  a  messenger  to  re 
quest  the  presence  of  the  sheriff  of  the  county.  He 
next  went  to  the  office  of  Mr.  Jeremiah  Mason,  and 
asked  the  privilege  of  writing  awhile  at  his  table. 
There  was  something  in  the  manner  of  this  young 
stranger  among  them,  that  arrested  their  attention. 
They  watched  every  step  he  took,  every  movement 
he  made.  Sitting  down  at  the  table,  Mr.  Webster 
made  out  a  writ  for  every  subscriber,  as  he  was  au 
thorized  to  do  for  Mr.  Thompson.  Seeing  these  for 
midable  weapons  they  proposed  a  parley.  He  met 


ANECDOTE    OF    HIS    FIRMNESS    AND    TACT.  11 

them,  not  to  hear  them,  but  that  they  could  hear 
him.  He  stated  the  object  of  his  mission,  and  the 
grounds  on  which  he  stood  so  imposingly,  and  fixed 
so  peremptorily  the  hour  which  the  money  must  be 
paid ;  he  spoke  so  courteously,  and  yet  so  sternly, 
as  to  fill  them  with  alarm.  Writs,  arrests,  and  bail 
bonds,  were  all  unpleasant  objects.  That  was  before 
imprisonment  for  debt  was  abolished.  The  parley 
ended,  he  ordered  his  horse  to  be  at  the  door  at  the 
time  named,  and  directed  the  sheriff  to  be  ready  to 
receive  the  writs  for  arresting  the  parties,  if  the  mo 
ney  was  not  forthcoming.  At  the  hour  appointed, 
his  horse  was  brought  to  the  door  for  his  return 
home ;  but  by  this  time  they  saw  that  he  was  not  a 
young  gentleman  to  be  put  off  or  trifled  with,  and 
they  hastened  to  pay  over  the  cash  as  fast  as  he  could 
receive  it.  He  then  hurried  back  to  the  office  with 
the  money,  much  to  the  amazement  of  Mr.  Thomp 
son,  and  satisfaction  of  Capt.  Kimball. 

This  anecdote  shows,  that  in  his  boyhood,  his 
purposes  were  not  easily  shaken,  and  that  he  had  the 
capacity  to  satisfy  others  \  he  was  not  to  be  resisted 
whenever  he  was  right. 

Mr.  Webster  was  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Thompson, 
with  Mr.  Noyes,  two  years.  Within  that  time  he 
acquired  what  knowledge  he  could  acquire  from  his 
instructor,  or  from  participating  in  his  practice.  He 
desired  to  be  in  a  larger  field ;  he  wished  to  be  a 
lawyer  on  a  broader  scale. 

Yours,  truly. 


12  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


MR.  WEBSTER    STUDIES   LAW  IN  BOSTON CHRISTOPHER    GORE HE  IS 

ADMITTED  TO  PRACTICE HIS  FIRST   CAUSE. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  IT.,  Sept.  —  1852. 

*  *  *  After  Mr.  Webster  had  pursued  his 
studies  two  years  with  Mr.  Thompson,  and  had  ac 
quired  some  knowledge  of  the  law,  as  related  in 
my  last  letter,  he  went  to  Boston  to  finish  his  legal 
education. 

That  city  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  denominated  the 
"  Athens  of  America."  It  embraced  many  eminent 
members  of  the  bar,  some  of  whom,  were  also  dis 
tinguished  for  their  general  learning.  Many  of  them 
had  travelled  in  foreign  countries.  He  could  not  have 
directed  his  steps  to  any  place  where  the  object  he 
had  in  view  could  have  been  more  certainly  accom 
plished. 

His  father  and  mother  had  now  beheld  the  rising 
fame  of  their  son.  That  just  pride,  which  fires  the 
bosom  of  parents  who  see  chaplets  weaving  for  their 
children,  animated  the  heart  of  his  father,  who  was 
then  a  judge  on  the  bench ;  he  took  counsel  from  his 
friends,  able  to  advise,  what  was  best  to  be  done,  and 
determined  to  do  his  utmost  to  give  him  all  the  op 
portunities  he  required. 

In  looking  over  the  list  of  the  eminent  law 
yers,  and  on  making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
relative  standing,  and  the  qualifications  of  each, 
Mr.  Webster  selected  Mr.  Christopher  Gore,  and 
made  a  successful  application  to  him.  for  a  seat  in  his 
office.  At  that  time  Mr.  Gore  was  not  at  all  engaged 
in  the  common  business  of  his  profession ;  he  did  not, 


CHRlSTOrilER    GORE.  13 


in  fact,  pretend  to  do  anything  as  an  attorney  or 
solicitor,  but  being  distinguished  as  a  counsellor,  he 
was  much  consulted  in  matters  of  great  doubt  and 
difficulty,  and  often  appeared  at  the  bar  to  argue 
those  cases  which  required  great  legal  learning,  and 
were  of  great  moment  to  the  State  or  individuals. 
Judges  listened  to  him  with  respect,  and  his  talents 
and  influence  commanded  large  fees. 

I  had  often  heard  the  name  of  Christopher  Gore 
mentioned  with  respect,  but  I  knew  nothing  of  him 
besides  his  name.  Finding  that  he,  too,  had  some 
thing  to  do  with  the  teaching  of  that  boy,  and  that 
he  gave  him  the  finishing  touch,  I  have  taken  pains 
to  learn  more  of  him.  But  in  speaking  of  his  biog 
raphy  I  will  be  brief.  Mr.  Gore  was  a  native  of 
Boston  ;  the  son  of  a  respectable  mechanic,  and  was 
educated  at  Harvard  College.  He  was  a  classmate 
of  Rufus  King,  of  New-York,  and  Oliver  Peabody, 
of  Exeter,  and  I  think  of  Joseph  Hall,  of  Boston. 
He  studied  law.  I  am  told,  with  Mr.  Tudor,  but  of 
this  there  is  some  doubt,  and  he  went  into  practice 
soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Courts,  on  the  peace  of 
1783.  He  soon  became  distinguished,  and  success 
crowned  his  efforts.  He  was  much,  indeed  for  a  long 
time,  almost  constantly  employed  in  the  collection  of 
British  debts. 

He  was  an  ardent  friend  of  the  project  for  a  new  and 
National  Government,  and  is  understood  to  have  drawn 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  mechanics  of  Boston  at 
the  Green  Dragon  in  1788,  and  which  were  presented 
by  Paul  Revere,  to  the  Boston  Delegates  in  the  Con 
vention.  Mr.  Gore  was  himself  one  of  that  delega- 


14  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

tion,  and  stood  by — a  fine-looking,  spirited  young 
man, — when  Colonel  Revere  presented  the  paper  to 
Samuel  Adams,  and  heard  the  dialogue  which  ensued. 
These  proceedings  produced  a  great  sensation  at  the 
time,  as  a  reference  to  the  history  of  that  Convention 
will  show  you. 

Mr.  Gore  was  appointed  by  President  Washington, 
the  first  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States  for 
the  District  of  Massachusetts.  He  discharged  the  du 
ties  of  the  office  with  great  credit  to  himself,  and  benefit 
to  the  country.  After  the  ratification  of  Mr.  Jay's 
treaty,  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  under  its 
7th  article,  with  William  Pinkney,  and  passed  five  or 
six  years,  perhaps  seven,  in  London,  engaged  in  the 
duties  of  that  appointment.  On  his  return,  he  re 
sumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Boston,  where 
Mr.  Webster  found  him  in  1804. 

In  1809  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
and  in  1 8 1 3  he  was  chosen  a  Senator  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States.  Infirm  health  rendered  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  in  a  great  measure  inactive.  At  his  death 
he  left  his  very  valuable  library  to  Harvard  College. 

Mr.  Gore  was  thoroughly  educated,  had  a  classical 
taste,  and  made  himself  a  learned  lawyer,  especially 
in  what  regarded  commercial  transactions.  He  was 
acquainted  with  most  of  the  great  men  of  his  time, 
at  home  and  abroad  ;  and  it  is  said  of  him,  that  he 
communicated  his  information  with  so  much  exactness, 
discrimination  and  taste,  that  his  listeners  became 
familiar  with  the  principles  of  the  law  without  much 
labor,  and  no  one  could  profit  more  by  these  commu 
nications  than  Mr.  Webster.  It  may  be  doubted 


CHRISTOPHER    GORE.  15 

•whether  Massachusetts  has  ever  produced  a  man  of 
more  accomplished  manners  and  demeanor  than 
Christopher  Gore,  or  one  from  whom  Mr.  Webster 
could  have  derived  greater  advantages. 

In  the  midst  of  the  books  which  Mr.  Gore's  exten 
sive  library  embraced,  and  with  the  advantages  of  Mr. 
Gore's  conversation.  Mr.  "Webster  sat  down  to  make 
himself  a  lawyer  on  a  broad  scale,  and  thenceforth 
no  student  ever  moved  forward  with  more  method  in 
the  pursuit  of  his  object.  The  first  effort  he  made 
was  to  render  himself  master  of  special  pleading, 
and  the  first  book  he  read  on  the  subject  was  the  old 
folio  edition  of  Saunders — Williams'  edition  of  that 
work  had  not  then  appeared.  Mr.  Webster  trans 
lated  the  Latin  and  Norman  French  into  English, 
and  made  an  abstract  of  every  case  in  the  book. 
This  made  him  familiar  with  the  forms  of  special 
pleading,  which  is  necessary  to  every  lawyer,  and  with 
the  clear  teaching  and  profound  suggestions  of  Mr. 
Gore,  he  was  soon  regarded  as  a  great  special  pleader. 

At  this  time,  he  discovered  that  a  profound  know 
ledge  of  English  History  was  necessary  to  make  a 
lawyer,  and  in  fact  that  law  was  an  historical  science. 
He  devoted  much  time  to  David  Hume's  History. 
Lingard,  Turner,  Hallam,  and  a  host  of  other  his 
torians,  who  have  gone  more  into  the  details  than 
Hume,  and  have  consequently  saved  the  student  much 
labor,  had  not  then  appeared.  Mr.  Webster  had, 
therefore,  to  make  painful  researches  in  obtaining,  as 
he  did,  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  pro 
gress  of  the  English  law. 

Mr.  Knapp,   who  has  written  something   about 


16  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTEtl. 

this  period  of  Mr.  Webster's  life,  says  that  Mr.  Gore 
soon  became  acquainted  with  the  capacity  and  ac 
quirements  of  his  students,  and  forgot  or  laid  aside  the 
office  relation,  and  they  stood  to  each  other  as  mutual 
and  intellectual  friends,  without  regard  to  the  differ 
ence  in  their  respective  ages.  Mr.  Gore  had  been  se 
veral  years  familiar  with  the  best  English  lawyers,  the 
forms  of  proceedings  in. the  Courts,  and  the  customs  of 
counsellors  and  advocates,  and  imparted  to  Mr.  Web 
ster  a  knowledge  which  books  could  not  or  did  not 
impart.  There  is  a  living  law  which  governs  courts, 
which  can  only  be  obtained  by  practice  and  observa 
tion.  One  year  spent  with  Mr.  Gore,  in  addition  to 
what  he  had  previously  acquired,  rendered  Mr.  Web 
ster  a  pretty  good  lawyer,  qualified  for  admission  to 
the  bar.  Mr.  Gore  introduced  him  to  the  Court  in  a 
speech  highly  complimentary,  and  while  stating  his 
character  and  qualifications,  predicted  his  subsequent 
distinction  and  eminence.  He  was  admitted  in  1805. 
While  Mr.  Webster  was  pursuing  his  studies  in 
Boston,  he  boarded  with  a  Mrs.  Whitwell,  where  he 
became  acquainted  with  a  Mr.  Taylor  Baldwin,  an 
eccentric,  but  an  intelligent  gentleman,  with  whom  he 
used  to  have  much  table-talk,  and  from  whom  he  de 
rived  much  information  about  "  the  world  at  large 
and  matters  and  things  in  general ;"  Mr.  Taylor  Bald 
win  thereby  became  his  friend.  He  also  became  ac 
quainted,  under  the  same  circumstances,  with  Mr. 
Kufus  Green  Emery,  who,  as  I  will  soon  tell  you,  was 
a  friend  in  need.  In  October.  1804,  at  the  solicita 
tion  of  Mr.  Emery,  who  wished  to  promote  the  happi 
ness  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Webster  was  induced  to  set 


APPOINTED    CLERK    OF    COUNTY    COURT.  17 

out  on  what  was  at  that  time  regarded  a  long  journey, 
in  an  open  carriage  with  Mr.  Taylor  Baldwin,  who  travel 
led  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He  went  to  Spring 
field,  on  the  Connecticut  River,  thence  to  Hartford, 
thence  to  Salisbury,  thence  to  Albany.  On  arriving 
at  that  city  he  took  lodgings  at  a  tavern  in  State 
street,  near  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  remained  there 
a  fortnight.  He  became  acquainted  with  Abraham 
Van  Vecten,  then  young,  but  afterwards  an  eminent 
lawyer. 

He  visited  the  Schuylers,  and  was  most  courte 
ously  entertained  at  Schuyler  Place.  He  also  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer, 
the  patroon,  and  indeed  of  most  of  the  prominent 
citizens.  After  seeing  all  that  there  was  to  be  seen 
at  Albany,  learning  much  about  the  men,  and  the 
'politics  of  the  State  of  New-York,  he  and  his  friend, 
Mr.  Taylor  Baldwin,  returned  to  Boston,  where  Mr. 
Webster  completed  his  studies.  About  this  time  his 
father,  being  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  County  Court 
in  New  Hampshire,  procured  for  Mr.  Webster  the 
appointment  of  Clerk  of  the  Court,  with  emoluments 
equal  to  about  $1500  a  year.  His  father  thought  the 
appointment  would  gratify  his  son  personally,  and 
more  especially,  as  it  would  afford  him  money ;  which  at 
that  time  was  wanted.  He  lost  no  time  in  communi 
cating  the  news  of  this  good  fortune  to  his  son  at 
Boston,  and  in  requesting  him  to  hasten  home,  to  enter 
on  the  duties  and  the  emoluments  of  the  office.  He 
thought  on  the  happening  of  this  event,  that  no 
young  man  in  all  New  England  was  more  fortunate  than 
his  son.  Mr.  Webster  told  what  had  occurred  to  his 


18  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

friend  Mr.  Gore,  who,  foreseeing  the  destiny  of  his 
student,  unhesitatingly  advised  him  not  to  accept  the 
appointment.  He  admitted  that  it  was  a  high  com 
pliment  to  so  young  a  man,  but  he  advised  him  to 
pursue  his  profession,  and  he  gave  such  cogent  reasons 
for  what  he  urged  him  to  do,  that  Mr.  Webster  con 
cluded  to  decline  it. 

The  difficulty  of  satisfying  his  father  that  the 
course  he  had  resolved  to  pursue,  was  the  best,  now 
arose  in  his  mind.  To  aid  Mr.  Webster  and  his 
brother  Ezekiel  in  obtaining  an  education,  their  father 
had  resorted  to  borrowing  money,  and  there  was  a 
mortgage  for  it  to  be  paid.  A  debt  was  a  sore  in- 
cumbrance,  more  so  in  those  days  than  at  the  present 
time.  Ezekiel  Webster  was  doing  his  best,  and  was 
then  in  Boston  teaching  a  select  school  to  earn  money 
towards  discharging  that  mortgage.  Edward  Eve 
rett,  since  so  highly  distinguished,  was,  by-the-bye, 
one  of  his  pupils.  The  desire  to  relieve  his  excellent 
father  from  all  pecuniary  responsibility  on  his  ac 
count,  now  that  he  had  the  power  to  do  it,  was,  of 
course,  very  great,  but  the  sacrifice  of  his  future 
prospects  was  in  the  scale,  weighing  against  the  Clerk 
ship,  and  its  emoluments.  In  this  dilemma,  his  friend 
Mr.  Rufus  Green  Emery,  be  it  mentioned  to  the 
credit  of  his  fame,  on  hearing  what  the  difficulty  was, 
put  gold  into  Mr.  Webster's  pocket,  and  sent  him 
home  to  see  his  father  personally  on  the  subject.  I 
have  heard  Mr.  Webster  tell  the  story,  and  it  is  a 
pity  that  I  should  mar  it.  On  arriving  at  home  he 
found  his  father  sitting  in  his  easy  chair,  not  know 
ing  one  word  of  what  had  passed  in  Boston,  or  of  his 


HIS    FIRST    CAUSE.  19 


intentions  as  to  the  Clerkship.  He  received  his  son 
affectionately,  and  with  a  manner  that  seemed  to  say, 
"  our  anxieties  are  now  ended."  His  father  lost  no 
time  in  telling  him  how  "  readily  and  how  handsomely 
his  request  had  been  complied  with.  I  had  not," 
said  he  to  his  son,  "  more  than  mentioned  it,  before  it 
was  done."  "  His  eyes,"  said  Mr.  Webster,  "  were 
brimful  of  the  tears  of  gratitude,  as  he  told  it  to  me." 

"  Judge,"  said  he,  "  of  my  father's  disappointment 
and  manifest  vexation,  when  I  told  him  I  must  re 
sign  the  office.  He  could  not  at  first  believe  his  own 
ears.  He,  of  course,  wanted  to  know  the  reason.  I 
told  him  I  could  do  better  !  I  laid  down  the  gold  to 
pay  the  mortgage,  and  all  the  debts  on  my  own  and 
my  brother's  account.  I  wrote  a  letter  thanking  the 
Judges  for  the  honor  they  had  done  me,  and  most  re 
spectfully  resigned  the  office  to  which  they  had  ap 
pointed  me.  Thereupon  I  hastened  back  to  Boston, 
where  the  Court  was  sitting  at  which  I  was  licensed 
to  practice.  I  then  for  the  first  time  held  up  my 
hand  and  took  the  oaths  of  office.  At  that  period 
there  were  many  mercantile  failures  among  men  liv 
ing  in  New  Hampshire,  but  trading  in  Boston.  On 
its  being  known  that  Mr.  Webster  intended  to  estab 
lish  himself  in  his  native  State,  his  friends  in  Boston 
promised  him  their  patronage,  which  they  most  lib 
erally  fulfilled.  One  firm  alone  gave  him  for  collec 
tion  $30,000  of  debts,  divided  into  an  almost  incred 
ible  number  of  individual  claims. 

On  the  first  Tuesday  of  September,  1805,  Mr. 
Webster  attended  Court  for  the  first  time  to  try  a 
cause.  It  was  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the 


20  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

County  of  Grafton,  then  held  at  Plymouth,  about 
thirty  miles  north  of  where  I  am.  His  father  was 
one  of  the  Judges  on  the  bench.  The  court-house 
was  a  very  small  building;  still  standing,  but  not 
now  used  for  the  same  purpose.  There  he  first  ad 
dressed  a  court  or  jury.  On  my  way  from  the  White 
Hills,  I  went  to  see  that  old  court-house.  There  are 
some  persons  residing  in  the  village,  but  not  many, 
who  heard  that  first  cause  tried.  Among  them,  is 
Hon.  Moore  Russel,  a  man  of  most  estimable  charac 
ter,  now  of  very  advanced  age,  who  knew  old  Col. 
Webster  well,  and  who  has  always  been  an  ardent 
friend  to  Mr.  Webster  himself.  I  went  to  see  him. 
He  remembers  well  Mr.  Webster's  first  effort,  and 
describes  it  as  minutely  as  if  he  had  heard  it  but 
yesterday. 

A  mile  or  two  from  Plymouth,  on  Baher's  River, 
lives  another  of  the  early  friends  of  Mr.  Webster, 
Hon.  Arthur  Livermore,  who  also  heard  his  maiden 
speech  in  court.  Mr.  Webster  met  at  the  bar,  on 
this  occasion,  his  friends  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Thompson, 
Mr.  Moses  P.  Payson,  Mr.  Alden  Sprague,  Mr.  James 
T.  Swann,  and  Mr.  William  W.  Woodward,  now  all 
dead ;  and  Mr.  Benjamin  G.  Gilbert,  and  Mr.  Abia- 
than  G.  Britton,  still  living  j  the  first  residing  in  Bos 
ton,  the  last  in  Oxford,  in  this  State.  My  informant 
did  not,  however,  remember  the  name  or  title  of  the 
first  cause  Mr.  Webster  tried,  but  it  was  a  civil  suit 
of  considerable  importance  to  the  parties,  and  which 
had  excited  some  interest  and  feeling  in  the  neigh 
borhood  in  which  they  resided.  The  Sheriff  of  the 
county  then  was  Col.  William  Webster,  a  distant  rel- 


OPENS    A    LAW-OFFICE.  21 

ative  of  Mr.  Webster,  but  whom  he  had  never  known 
till  then.  After  Mr.  Webster  had  finished  his  argu 
ment  to  the  court  and  jury,  the  Sheriff  stated  to  my 
informant,  that  he  thought  when  Mr.  Webster  rose, 
he  would  not  stand  up  long ;  he  said  he  was  ashamed 
to  see  so  lean  and  feeble  a  young  man  come  into 
court,  bearing  the  name  of  Webster.  But  he  aston 
ished  everybody  with  his  eloquence,  learning,  and  his 
powers  for  reasoning.  To  use  the  quaint  expression 
of  Mr.  Bussel,  they  found  "  an  old  head  on  young 
shoulders."  Thenceforth,  he  never  wanted  clients — 
they  came  like  the  leaves  of  the  forest. 

Mr.  Webster,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  speaking  of 
his  father,  says :  "  My  first  speech  at  the  bar  was 
made  when  he  was  on  the  bench ;  he  never  heard  me 
a  second  time." 

The  night  is  clear ;  the  rays  of  the  silver  moon 
fall  on  this  paper,  giving  almost  as  much  light  as  the 
lamp  before  me  ;  and  I  could  run  on  in  this  manner 
till  the  morning  dawns,  but  that  whip-poor-will,  with 
her  "  all  night  descant"  invites  me  to  sleep,  as  she 
has  done  before,  while  she  continues  her  sweet  serenade. 
Yours,  with  regards. 


MK.    WEBSTER  OPENS    A   LAW-OFFICE BOSCAWEN HIS    FIBST    CRIH1 

NAL    CASE HIS   LEGAL    OPPONENTS. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  September  — ,  1849. 
*         *         *     On  being  admitted  at  the  bar, 
Mr.  Webster  was  urged  by  his  friends  in  Boston  to 
open  an  office  there.     He  had  formed  many  acquaint- 


22  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ances  and  several  friendships,  which  would  have  been 
of  the  greatest  advantage  to  him ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that,  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Gore,  and  the 
patronage  of  his  friends,  his  success  would  have  been 
great ;  but  he  loved  his  father,  who  was  then  old,  and 
he,  his  devoted  son,  could  not  be  induced  to  go  far 
off.  I  have  seen  a  letter,  written  by  Mr.  Webster 
to  a  friend,  in  which  he  says :  "  My  opening  an  office 
in  Boscawen  was,  that  I  might  be  near  him."  There 
fore  he  remained  at  his  father's  house  awhile,  but 
opened  an  office  as  a  lawyer  in  Boscawen,  a  neigh 
boring  village  between  this  and  Concord,  which  was 
the  seat  of  the  State  Government,  and,  as  usual,  put 
up  a  simple  sign  over  his  door,  "  D.  Webster,  Attor 
ney,"  which  is  still  in  existence,  another  memento  of 
his  early  beginnings. 

The  Indian  name  of  that  town  was  Contoocook, 
but  it  was  afterwards  changed  to  its  present  name,  in 
honor  of  Edward  Boscawen,  a  celebrated  English 
Admiral,  who,  in  1760,  was  on  the  American  station. 
The  principal  village  is  in  the  Eastern  section  of  the 
town,  on  a  spacious  street,  nearly  two  miles  in  length, 
very  straight  and  level.  From  the  numerous  streams 
of  water,  and  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  hills,  the  air 
is  pure,  the  temperature  is  uniform,  and  therefore 
conducive  to  health.  The  eye  of  the  traveller  is  de 
lighted  with  the  view  of  the  fertile  valleys  and  ro 
mantic  windings  of  the  Merrimack.  I  have  driven 
through  this  town  with  great  pleasure  to-day.  There 
was  a  charm  about  it,  at  the  time  of  which  I  am 
speaking,  attractive  to  a  student  of  fine  taste  and 
quiet  habits.  It  was,  moreover,  the  immediate  neigh- 


HIS    FIRST    CRIMINAL    CASE.  23 

borhood  of  his  early  and  devoted  friend,  Mr.  Wood, 
•whose  learning  rendered  his  early  society  valuable 
and  always  desirable.  These  considerations,  as  well 
as  because  it  was  virtually  his  home,  made  it  very 
attractive.  Soon  after  he  began  to  practise  law.  a 
trial  for  murder  came  on  in  the  county  of  Plymouth, 
and  the  Judges  assigned  him  to  defend  the  prisoner, 
although  the  time  had  not  elapsed  for  his  admission 
as  a  counsellor  at  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 
His  commanding  talents  warranted  this  deviation 
from  the  general  rule. 

The  account  I  have  of  this  effort  as  a  criminal 
advocate,  which  was  his  second  effort  at  the  bar,  the 
first  being  in  a  civil  suit,  I  will  give  in  the  words  of 
an  eminent  man,  who  related  it  some  twenty  years 
ago: 

"The  murder,"  said  he,  "was  foul  and  horrid; 
perpetrated  on  an  innocent  man — a  fellow-prisoner 
for  debt.  They  were  in  the  same  room,  no  provoca 
tion  was  given  by  the  sufferer,  or  none  that  would  in 
the  slightest  degree  palliate  the  offence.  The  fact  of 
killing  could  not  be  questioned;  the  defence,  of  course, 
was  narrowed  to  one  point, — '  the  insanity  of  the 
prisoner}  There  were  no  proofs  of  his  former  in 
sanity,  but  the  malignity  of  his  disposition  was  well 
known  to  all  the  country  around.  His  counsel,  never 
theless,  was  not  deterred  from  going  on,  with  all  these 
formidable  circumstances  to  contend  with.  He  ar 
gued,  that  the  enormity  of  the  deed,  perpetrated  with 
out  motive,  or  without  any  of  those  motives  operating 
upon  most  minds,  furnished  presumptive  proof  of  the 
alienation  of  the  prisoner's  mind ;  and  even  the  cool 


24  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

deliberation,  and  apparent  serenity  which  he  exhib 
ited  at  the  time  the  deed  was  done,  were  proofs  that 
reason  was  perverted,  and  a  momentary  insanity  had 
come  over  him.  The  advocate  astonished  the  court 
and  jury,  and  all  who  heard  him,  by  his  deep  know 
ledge  of  the  human  mind.  He  opened  all  the  springs 
of  action,  and  analyzed  every  faculty  of  the  mind  so 
lucidly  and  philosophically,  that  it  was  a  new  school 
for  those  who  heard  him.  He  showed  the  different 
shapes  insanity  assumed,  from  a  single  current  of 
false  reasoning  upon  a  particular  subject,  while  there 
is  a  perfect  soundness  of  mind  upon  every  other  sub 
ject  ;  to  the  reasoning  aright  upon  wrong  premises, 
and  to  the  reasoning  wrong  upon  right  premises,  up 
to  those  paroxysms  of  madness,  when  the  eye  is 
filled  with  strange  sights,  and  the  ear  with  strange 
sounds,  and  reason  is  entirely  dethroned.  As  he  laid 
open  the  infirmities  of  human  nature,  the  jury  were 
in  tears,  and  the  bystanders  still  more  affected  ;  but 
common  sense  prevailed  over  argument  and  eloquence, 
and  the  wretch  was  convicted  and  executed.  Not 
withstanding  the  fate  of  the  murderer,  the  speech  lost 
nothing  of  its  effect  upon  the  people.  It  was  long 
the  subject  of  conversation  in  every  public  place, 
and  is  often  mentioned  now  with  admiration." 

The  same  gentleman  asserts  that  Mr.  Webster 
had  not  boen  two  years  at  the  bar,  before  he  was  con 
sidered  one  of  the  very  best  jury  lawyers  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  he  began  to  travel  the  State,  attend 
ing  the  Circuit  Courts  in  all  the  counties,  and  was 
engaged  in  cases  to  be  opposed  by  the  first  men  in 
this  country.  Among  these,  said  he,  were  two  gen- 


HIS    LEGAL    OPPONENTS.  25 

tlemen  very  much  distinguished  in  their  profession. 
Mr.  Mason,  for  his  eminent  talents  and  skill  in  the 
management  of  causes,  had   acquired  an  extensive 
practice.       He  was  witty,   sarcastic,   argumentative 
and  persevering,  and  therefore  a  most  powerful  antag 
onist.     The  other  was  Judge  Smith,  who  resided  in 
a  neighboring  town,  and  about  this  time  had  returned 
to  the  bar,  after  having  been  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State.     He  was  one  of  the  best  read  lawyers  in  New 
England,  and   also   a   fine    classical   scholar.      His 
speaking  at  the  bar  was  easy,  fluent,  playful  or  severe, 
as  the  occasion  required.      His  opinions  passed  for 
law  with  the  court  and  jury,  and  the  weight  of  his 
character  was  felt  in  every  cause  in  which  he  was 
engaged.     With  these,  and  others  of  eminence,  Mr. 
Webster  had  to  contend,  at  an  age  when  most  young 
lawyers  are  preparing  themselves  for  future  labors, 
in  minor  causes  and  in  inferior  courts.     He  did  not 
rely  on  his  eloquence  for  success,  but  prepared  himself 
with  great  industry  and  care.     He  secured  the  jury 
by  a  clear  statement  of  his  case,  and  he  always  used 
such  plain  language  that  they  could  not  misunder 
stand  him ;  they  thought  it  was  just  such  as  they 
would  have  used  had  they  been  called  to  tell   the 
same  story,  not  knowing  how  difficult  it  is  to  reach 
such  a  style  of  communicating  our  thoughts.     The 
elder  practitioners  now  sharpened  their  wits  to  take 
the  lead  of  him  in  the  law  arguments  to  the  bench. 
In  this  they  were  disappointed,  for  he  was  at  home 
there  also.     He  argued  his  causes  before  the  Judges 
of  the  court  with  as  much  clearness  and  force  as  he 
had  done  to  the  jury.     His  mind,  naturally  logical, 
*  VOL.  n.        2 


26  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

seized  the  strong  points  in  a  law  case,  and  he  pushed 
his  reasonings  home  to  the  understandings  of  the 
Judges.  His  seniors  at  the  bar  now  found  it  was 
better  to  divide  the  empire  with  him  than  to  dispute 
it.  These  great  men  soon  became  his  cordial  friends, 
and  are  now,  said  he,  among  his  warmest  admirers 
and  eulogists.  He  met  them  in  the  counties  of 
Hillsborough,  Rockingham,  Strafford,  Cheshire,  Graf- 
ton,  Merrimack  and  Sullivan,  almost  as  often  as  the 
court  sat.  The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  held  two 
sessions  in  each  year,  and  the  Superior  Court  also 
held  two  sessions  per  annum  in  each  of  these  counties. 
To  meet  these  men  on  terms  of  equality,  he  was 
forced  to  study  with  diligence  every  point  that  was 
made.  They  had  long  experience,  which  he  had  not. 
No  better  training  could  have  been  devised  for  Mr. 
Webster,  than  to  call  on  him  almost  every  day  to 
meet  either  Jeremiah  Mason  or  Judge  Smith.  What 
a  school  that  must  have  been !  Then  it  was  he 
acquired  that  habit  of  retiring  at  an  early  hour  in 
the  evening,  and  rising  the  next  morning  with  the 
lark,  as  he  is  accustomed  to  speak  of  this  habit ;  or 
at  the  break  of  day,  while  others  still  slept,  he  care 
fully  studied  his  cases,  and  prepared  to  meet  his  great 
antagonists  at  the  opening  of  the  court.  He  never 
met  them  unprepared.  On  one  occasion,  while  talk 
ing  on  this  subject,  he  said,  "  if  anybody  should  think 
I  was  somewhat  familiar  with  the  law  on  some  points, 
and  should  be  curious  enough  to  desire  to  know  how 
it  happened,  tell  him  that  Jeremiah  Mason  compel* 
led  me  to  study  it.  He  was  my  master." 


PREPARATION    OF   HIS    CASES.  27 

Mr.  Webster  never  in  his  life  took  any  credit  to 
himself  for  what  was  much  praised. 

Yours,  truly. 


aiS   PREPARATION     OF     HIS    CASES ATTENDS     TO     GENERAL    LITERA 
TURE — ORATION     AT     CONCORD ONE     OF     HIS     PROFESSORS     AT 

DARTMOUTH — SOME   ACCOUNT   OF   HIM. 

ELMS  FARM,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 

*  *  *  I  have  been  repeatedly  told  by  those 
who  were  engaged  with  or  opposed  to  him,  that  no 
lawyer  ever  came  into  court  to  try  his  cases  before  a 
Jury,  or  to  argue  his  cases  before  the  Judges,  better 
prepared  than  Mr.  "Webster.  He  sounded  his  clients 
thoroughly,  and  explored  every  probable  ground  of 
his  adversaries,  so  that  on  the  trial  he  was  rarely  sur 
prised  by  any  new  or  unlooked-for  testimony ;  and,  in 
connection  with  this  subject  it  is  said,  it  was  much 
more  rarely  that  he  manifested  his  surprise,  if,  per 
chance,  any  thing  unexpected  was  disclosed.  So  in 
the  argument  of  cases  at  the  bar,  he  was  always  pre 
pared  with  ample  authority  from  the  books,  to  sustain 
all  the  points  he  made,  and  he  was  armed  to  the  teeth 
with  reason  or  ridicule,  to  meet  his  adversary  against 
every  supposable  attack  he  could  make.  Young  as 
he  was,  it  was  an  intellectual  treat  to  hear  him  in 
Court. 

Although  as  ready  as  other  men  without  special 
preparation,  and  always  quick  in  repelling  an  attack 
and  at  repartee,  yet  he  could  not,  and  would  riot  ex 
cuse  himself  for  not  being  thoroughly  prepared.  In 


28  .        MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

his  opinion  it  was  due  to  his  client  and  to  the  Court, 
that  he  should  be  able  and  ready  to  say  all  that  ho 
could  say  on  the  subject  under  consideration.  The 
idea  of  slurring  a  matter  over  superficially,  and 
thereby  apparently  entitling  himself  to  a  fee,  was 
more  repugnant  to  his  feelings,  and  more  foreign  to 
his  practice  than  that  of  any  man  in  this  or  any 
State. 

While  out  of  Court,  during  the  time  intervening 
between  the  terms,  he  devoted  some  time  to  other 
subjects.  He  devoured  every  new  book  with  great 
avidity,  and  followed,  in  his  reading,  every  traveller 
over  the  globe.  He  was  partial  to  the  biographies  of 
eminent  men,  and  added  much  to  his  knowledge  of 
human  nature  by  a  careful  perusal  of  whatever  was 
meritorious  in  that  field  of  reading.  Nor  did  he 
suffer  his  pen  to  remain  idle.  He  entered  the  lists 
of  controversy  with  some  of  the  master-spirits  of  that 
day,  and  evinced  great  talents  as  an  essayist.  At 
that  time  there  was  a  magazine  or  review  of  high 
character  published  at  Cambridge,  known  as  the 
Monthly  Anthology,  and  which  was  edited  by  his 
early  friend,  Joseph  S.  Buckminster,  of  whom  I  spoke 
in  a  former  letter.  This  Review  was  supported  by 
distinguished  gentlemen  at  Boston  and  Cambridge. 
Among  its  contributors  were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Emerson, 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  S.  J.  Gardner,  Professor  Willard,  of 
Cambridge,  Mr.  William  Wells,  Mr.  Frank  Channing, 
Mr.  William  Tudor,  Mr.  Samuel  Dexter,  Dr.  Kirk- 
land,  Mr.  A.  M.  Walter,  Mr.  John  Lowell,  the  tra 
veller,  and  says  the  biographer  of  Mr.  Buckminster, 
"Daniel  Webster,  from  the  rocky  wilds  of  New- 


ATTENDS    TO    GENERAL   LITERATURE.  29 

Hampshire,  enriched  its  pages  with  his  winged 
thoughts."  That  writer  also  says,  that  when  it  is 
recollected  that  all  the  contributors  to  the  Anthology 
were  men  engaged  in  laborious  and  exacting  profes 
sions,  that  their  contributions  were  the  fruits  of 
chance  half  hours,  or  of  moments  lighted  by  the  mid 
night  lamp,  after  days  of  fatiguing  labor  in  their 
offices,  there  is  certainly  a  wonderful  degree  of  unity 
of  purpose  and  harmony  of  sentiment,  and  a  general 
respectability  in  its  pages,  highly  creditable  to  the 
dawning  literature  of  the  day.  Any  one  reading  it 
now  will  be  startled  at  the  independent  tone  of  its 
criticism.  Mr.  Webster's  glowing  fancy  and  pro 
found  thoughts  shine  in  many  an  article  which  he 
transmitted  to  the  editor  under  an  anonymous  signa 
ture,  from  that  unpretending  law  office  which  he  oc 
cupied  in  the  lovely  village  of  Boscawen.  Mr.  Web 
ster,  on  a  recent  occasion,  told  me  that  being  at  the 
office  of  the  editor  of  that  paper,  he  met,  and  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  celebrated  Fisher  Ames. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1806.  he  was  chosen  by  the 
people  of  Concord,  the  seat  of  government  and  its 
vicinity  to  deliver  the  Oration.  His  reputation  as  an 
Orator  drew  together  on  that  occasion  a  large  con 
course  of  people,  and  his  Oration  produced  a  pro 
found  sensation.  Although  he  had  not  entered  the 
field  as  a  politician,  and  did  not  intend  to  enter  it, 
yet  he  met  the  wishes  of  his  hearers  by  discussing 
the  most  interesting  political  topics  of  the  day. 

The  subject  of  his  speech  was  the  question, 
whether  it  were  possible  to  preserve  the  present  form 
of  our  government — the  solitary  representative  of 


80  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Republican  institutions.  It  was  a  subject  for  the 
contemplation  of  mankind. 

"  When  we  speak  of  preserving  the  Constitution" 
said  he,  "  we  mean  not  the  paper  on  which  it  is  writ 
ten,  but  the  spirit  which  dwells  in  it.  Government 
may  lose  all  its  real  character,  its  genius,  its  temper, 
without  losing  its  appearance.  Republicanism,"  said 
he,  "  unless  you  guard  it,  will  creep  out  of  its  case  of 
parchment,  like  a  snake  out  of  its  skin.  You  may 
have  a  Despotism,  under  the  name  of  a  Republic. 
You  may  look  on  a  government,  and  see  it  possess  all 
the  external  modes  of  Freedom,  and  yet  find  nothing 
of  the  essence,  the  vitality,  of  Freedom  in  it ;  just  as 
you  may  contemplate  an  embalmed  body,  where  art 
hath  preserved  proportion  and  form,  amid  nerves 
without  motion,  and  veins  void  of  blood." 

Among  the  most  numerous  and  the  most  danger 
ous  enemies  of  our  Government,  he  mentioned  the 
passions  and  vices  of  the  people.  But  considering 
that  evil  communications  corrupt  systems,  as  well  as 
individuals,  he  enlarged  on  the  dangers  which  threat 
ened  its  well-being  from  its  foreign  relations.  Inti 
mately  connected  as  was  our  country  with  foreign  na 
tions  by  commerce,  which,  from  its  nature,  cannot  ex 
ist  without  rivalship,  he  inferred  the  necessity  and 
good  policy  of  granting  it  a  protection,  sufficient  to  de 
fend  it  from  the  interruptions  and  aggressions,  which 
the  spirit  of  rivalship  and  the  injustice  of  other  na 
tions,  may  dispose  them  to  offer.  The  want  of  pro 
tection  to  commerce,  said  he,  will  be  more  fatal  to 
our  agriculture,  than  either  the  drought  or  the  mil 
dew  ;  for,  in  this  instance,  were  it  left  to  our  choice, 


ORATION    AT    CONCORD.  31 

we  should  certainly  imitate  the  conduct  of  David  by 
choosing  "  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  (for  his 
mercies  are  great,)  and  not  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
men."  One  of  the  publications  of  that  time,  in  speak 
ing  of  the  Oration,  says :  "  We  have  seldom  read  any 
production  of  this  kind,  which  has  contained  more 
correct  sentiments,  expressed  with  so  much  felicity  of 
fancy  and  purity  of  style.  It  is  free  from  the  rancor 
ous  colorings  of  party  spirit,  which  are  wholly  incon 
sistent  with  true  eloquence.  If  there  is  any  fault  in 
the  style,  it  is  that  the  sentences,  though  not  collo 
quial,  are  in  general  too  sententious,  and  expressed 
with  too  much  brevity  for  the  flow  of  a  public  ha 
rangue."  I  add  one  more  extract  from  which  our 
readers  may  judge  of  the  style. 

"  When  we  turn  from  Great  Britain  to  France,  we 
are  led  to  contemplate  a  nation  of  very  different  situ 
ation,  power,  and  character.  We  seem  to  be  carried 
back  to  the  Roman  Age.  The  days  of  Caesar  are 
come  again.  Even  a  greater  than  Caesar  is  here. 
The  throne  of  the  Bourbons  is  filled  by  a  new  char 
acter,  of  the  most  astonishing  fortunes. 

"  A  new  dynasty  hath  taken  place  in  Europe.  A 
new  era  hath  commenced.  An  Empire  is  founded, 
more  populous,  more  energetic,  more  warlike,  more 
powerful,  than  Ancient  Rome,  at  any  moment  of  her 
existence.  The  basis  of  this  mighty  fabric  covers 
France,  Holland,  Spain,  Prussia,  Italy,  and  Ger 
many  ;  embracing,  perhaps,  an  eighth  part  of  the  pop 
ulation  of  the  globe. 

"  Though  this  Empire  is  commercial  in  some  de 
gree,  and  in  some  of  its  parts,  its  ruling  passion  is 


N 

32  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

not  commerce,  but  war.  Its  genius  is  conquest ;  its 
ambition  is  fame.  With  all  the  immorality,  the 
licentiousness,  the  prodigality,  the  corruption,  of  de 
clining  Rome,  it  has  the  enterprise,  the  courage,  the 
ferocity  of  Rome  in  the  days  of  the  Consuls.  While 
the  French  Revolution  was  acting,  it  was  difficult  to 
speak  of  France,  without  exciting  the  rancor  of  politi 
cal  party.  The  cause,  in  which  our  leaders  professed 
to  be  engaged,  was  too  dear  to  American  hearts,  to 
suffer  their  motives  to  be  questioned,  or  their  excesses 
censured,  with  just  severity.  But  the  Revolution 
ary  Drama  is  now  closed — the  curtain  hath  fallen  on 
those  tremendous  scenes,  which  for  fourteen  years 
held  the  eyes  of  the  world — that  meteor,  which  '  from 
its  horrid  hair  shook  pestilence  and  war,'  hath  now 
passed  off  into  the  distant  regions  of  space,  and  left 
us  to  speculate  coolly  on  the  causes  of  its  wonderful 
appearance." 

The  same  manly,  vigorous  style  which  displayed 
itself  then,  in  his  speaking  and  writing,  has  been  cul 
tivated  ever  since.  He  has  at  length  established  for 
it  a  high  reputation.  Almost  all  speakers  and  writers 
strive  to  acquire  it,  though  few  indeed  succeed.  Men 
of  letters  of  our  time  have  affixed  to  it  his  great  name. 
It  is  denominated  the  "  Websterian  style." 

Not  far  from  the  time  Mr.  Webster  began  to 
practise  law,  his  friend,  that  eminent  professor  who 
had  taken  great  pleasure  in  instructing  him  in  all  the 
sound  principles  of  philosophy,  while  in  College,  de 
parted  this  life.  I  promised  to  tell  you  more  about 
him  than  I  did  in  the  letter,  in  which  I  mentioned 
him,  but  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  state  what  was 


ONE    OF    HIS    PROFESSORS    AT    DARTMOUTH.          33 

said  in  an  obituary  notice  published  a  week  after  his 
decease : 

DIED. 

"  Last  Saturday,  at  Hanover,  the  Hon.  Bezaliel 
Woodward,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Philoso 
phy,  in  Dartmouth  College.  It  might  be  thought 
needless  to  address  the  public  on  a  character  so  gen 
erally  known,  and  so  unanimously  approved.  But  as 
it  is  no  more  than  a  just  tribute  of  respect  to  the  de 
ceased,  rightly  to  appreciate  their  virtues  in  life; 
and  as  the  living  ought  to  profit  by  examples  of  de 
parted  worth,  it  is  suitable  to  give  a  very  general 
portrait  of  him  whose  death  we  lament,  and  the  mem 
ory  of  whose  life  will  ever  be  useful  and  pleasing. 

"  The  birth  and  early  life  of  Professor  Woodward 
were  at  Lebanon,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut.  In 
the  20th  year  of  his  age  he  was  graduated  at  Yale 
College,  1764.  After  a  few  years  successfully  em 
ployed  in  the  ministry,  he  was  elected  a  Tutor  in  this 
University.  Here  he  soon-displayed  such  talents  and 
improvements,  such  readiness  of  thought,  and  ease  of 
communication,  that  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Philosophy.  The  dig 
nity  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  station 
is  witnessed  by  all  who  have  shared  in  his  instructions. 
In  the  civil  department,  and  as  a  member  of  society, 
he  was  no  less  eminent,  than  as  an  instructor  in  Col 
lege.  We  might  also  add  his  usefulness  in  the  Church 
of  Christ  at  this  place,  of  which  he  was  long  a  worthy 
member,  and  high  in  the  esteem  and  affections  of  his 
Christian  brethren.  His  remains  were  interred  on 


34  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER, 

Tuesday  last.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Smith  delivered  upon  the 
occasion  a  well-adapted  discourse.  Dr.  Smith  was 
himself  one  of  the  Professors,  The  Officers,  Trustees, 
and  members  of  the  College,  joined  as  mourners,  with 
the  afflicted  family,  and  the  solemnities  were  attended 
by  a  very  numerous  collection  of  his  friends  and  ac 
quaintances. 

"  The  Alumni  of  Dartmouth  will  join  with  its 
present  officers  and  members  in  deploring  the  losj  of 
a  faithful  and  able  instructor.  Those  who  visited 
him  in  his  late  illnessr  had  a  specimen  of  decaying 
greatness,  alleviated  by  an  approving  conscience,  and 
sustained  by  resignation  and  hope.  The  friends  of 
science  will  lament  the  departure  of  one  of  its  en 
lightened  patrons.  Society  sympathizes  with  the 
bereaved  family,  retaining  a  lively  sense  of  his  public 
and  domestic  virtues ;  and  a  numerous  acquaintance 
will  mingle  their  grief  in  bemourning  the  loss  of  a 
sincere  friend,  a  valuable  citizen,  and  an  exemplary 
Christian." 

The  links  which  bound  Mr.  Webster  to  those 
whose  instruction  had  benefited  him  were  stronger 
than  golden  links ;  and  as  you  may  well  suppose,  were 
never  severed  without  a  pang.  Throughout  his  career, 
he  has  been  remarkable  for  his  attachment  to  the 
living  and  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  who  had  any 
hand  in  framing  his  mind.  He  lamented  the  death 
of  Dr.  Woodward  as  a  child  laments  the  death  of  an 
indulgent  father.  It  has  so  happened  that  I  have  heard 
Mr.  Webster  often  speak  of  this  great  teacher  and 
philosopher,  and  of  the  pleasure  he  took  in  drinking 
at  a  fountain  of  so  much  learning.  He  always  gave 


HEALTH    POOR.  35 


him  credit  for  teaching  him  how  to  think,  and  to  ex 
press  his  thoughts  with  brevity,  instead  of  the  redun 
dant  style  to  which  he  was  at  first  too  much  inclined. 
That  great  scholar,  said  he,  taught  me  how  much  I 
could  strike  out  of  whatever  I  wrote  or  spoke,  and 
still  have  enough  to  communicate  all  I  desired  to  say." 
Yours  with  regards. 


HEALTH  BAD REMOVES   TO  PORTSMOUTH OFTEN    MEETS  MR,  MASON 

MARRIED TAKES  PART  IN  POLITICS GREAT  MEETING  IN  ROCK- 

INGHAM UPHOLDS  THE  UNION HIS  POPULARITY  IN  PORTSMOUH. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  IL,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 
MR.  WEBSTER  continued  to  practise  law  with 
business  enough  to  gratify  his  wishes,  and  at  the  same 
time  pursue  a  systematic  course  of  studies  at  his  of 
fice  in  Boscawen  for  two  years.  At  this  period  I 
learn  from  one  of  his  relations,  his  friends  became 
alarmed,  believing  his  constitution  was  rapidly  sink 
ing  under  the  severity  of  his  application  to  books. 
His  retreat  was  too  quiet ;  indeed  it  was  destitute  of 
any  of  those  excitements  so  necessary  to  break  the 
monotony  of  a  student's  life,  and  relax  his  mind.  In 
the  society  there  at  that  day  their  was  little  gayety. 
little  cheerfulness. 

His  solitary  rambles  with  his  gun  or  fishing-rod 
did  not  unbend  his  mind,  but  whether  in  the  forest  or 
on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  his  thoughts  were  in  the 
depth  of  his  client's  case  or  wrapped  in  profound  medi 
tation.  Mr.  Webster  was  not  born  to  live  in  soli 
tude.  In  September,  1807,  his  friends  persuaded 


36  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

him  to  establish  himself  at  Portsmouth,  the  commer 
cial  city  of  the  State,  rapidly  growing  in  importance. 

He  had  built  up  a  lucrative  local  business,  which 
he  turned  over  to  his  brother  Ezekiel,  who  had  now 
been  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  his  new  home  he  found 
an  intelligent  circle  of  friends,  in  whose  midst  he  was 
induced  to  pass  leisure  hours  which  at  Boscawen 
would  have  been  devoted  to  intense  study.  He  also 
pursued  a  systematic  course  of  out  door  exercises. 
In  this  manner  his  time  passed  off  happily,  he  re 
gained  his  health,  became  robust  and  capable  of  en 
during  any  hardship,  sustaining  any  fatigue,  or  confin 
ing  himself  closely  to  books  for  any  reasonable  time. 

There,  too,  he  met  his  great  antagonist  at  the 
bar,  the  lion  in  his  very  den.  It  was  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Jeremiah  Mason.  Before  he  went  to  Ports 
mouth,  Mr.  Mason  had  extended  to  him  a  friendly 
hand ;  but  now,  he  became  his  warmest  friend,  his 
most  frequent  associate,  and  that  friendship  contin 
ued  unbroken  till  recently,  when  death  laid  Mr.  Ma 
son  low  in  the  dust.  Of  course  you  have  read  what 
Mr.  Webster  said  on  that  occasion.  Mr.  Webster 
was  engaged  either  on  the  same  side  with  Mr.  Mason 
or  opposed  to  him  in  almost  every  important  cause 
in  the  State.  They  travelled  the-  circuits  together, 
and  while  attending  court  occupied  apartments  in  the 
same  house,  and  always  sat  at  the  same  table.  This 
friendly  intercourse  was  marvellous  to  those  who  saw 
them  daily  contending  so  ardently  in  court  for  oppo 
site  opinions.  None  but  great  men  could  have  pre 
sented  so  pleasing  a  spectacle.  There  are  in  the  trial 
of  exciting  causes  in  which  whole  communities  are 


MARRIED. 


37 


often  pitted  against  each  other,  many  occasions  when 
the  clashing  steel  hits  an  adversary  though  cased  in 
iron,  making  a  wound  which  nothing  but  magnani 
mity  can  heal. 

Mr.  Webster  was  now  on  the  road  to  prosperity ; 
his  clients  and  friends  were  numerous,  his  means,  for 
one  in  his  situation  in  life,  were  amply  sufficient  to 
meet  all  his  expenses  and  to  discharge  every  obliga 
tion  which  he  or  his  brother  had  incurred.  He  had 
gome  time  been  engaged  to  be  married,  and  he  did 
marry. 

In  an  old  paper,  the  "Portsmouth  Oracle"  print 
ed  June  11,  1808,  I  read  yesterday  the  announce 
ment,  "  Married  in  Salisbury,  Daniel  Webster,  Esq., 
of  this  town,  to  Miss  Grace  Fletcher."  I  have  seen 
the  house  in  which  Mrs.  Fletcher  then  resided.  Driv 
ing  one  day  with  Mr.  Webster  he  pointed  it  out. 

The  father  of  this  young  lady  was  the  Rev.  Eli 
jah  Fletcher,  of  Hopkinton.  He  was  the  son  of  the 
Mr.  Timothy  Fletcher,  of  Westford,  Massachusetts, 
whose  wife  was  Bridget,  the  third  daughter  of  Cap 
tain  Zachariah  Richardson,  of  Chelmsford.  Mr. 
Fletcher  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1769.  He  was 
ordained  January  27,  1772,  and  died  April  8,  1786, 
aged  39.  Few  men  were  ever  more  respected  or  be 
loved.  Of  the  five  ministers  who  had  been  settled  in 
Hopkinton,  previous  to  1820,  he  is  the  only  one  who 
died  in  the  ministry.  One  who  knew  him  well,  says 
of  him,  "  he  was  the  patron  of  many  students,  and 
among  them,  the  late  President  Webber,  of  Harvard 
College,  whom  he  found  a  poor  boy  in  his  parish,  pos 
sessed  of  native  genius,  and  disposed  for  improve- 


88  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ment.  Mr.  Fletcher  prepared  him  for  College,  and 
assisted  him  in  procuring  an  education.  The  Presi 
dent  ever  acknowledged  his  obligations  to  his  early 
instructor  and  friend.  Mr.  Fletcher  left  four  chil 
dren,  three  daughters  and  one  son.  One  married  a 
Mr.  White,  of  Pittsfield  ;  one  married  the  Hon.  Is 
rael  W.  Kelly,  of  Salisbury,  and  the  other  married 
Mr.  Webster.  Timothy  Fletcher,  the  only  son,  was, 
and  perhaps  is,  a  merchant  in  Portland.  Mr.  Fletch 
er's  widow  married  the  Rev.  Christopher  Page,  and 
died  at  Salisbury,  July  9,  1821,  aged  67. 

During  the  years  1808-09-10-11,  Mr.  Webster 
continued  his  exertions  at  the  bar,  in  this  State,  oc 
casionally  going  into  Massachusetts,  during  which 
time  he  tried  more  causes  in  Court,  and  his  well- 
earned  fame  was  rising  higher  and  spreading  wider 
than  that  of  any  other  man  of  his  age  in  this  coun 
try.  Massachusetts  seemed  to  take  as  deep  an  in 
terest  in  him  as  his  native  State. 

When  Mr.  Webster  went  to  Portsmouth  to  re 
side  with  his  wife,  they  took  lodgings  at  the  house  of 
a  widow  lady,  where  they  resided  some  time,  and 
were  regarded  as  the  proprietors  of  the  establish 
ment,  he  paying  all  the  expenses.  At  last  he  bought 
the  house,  furniture  and  all  pertaining  to  it,  and  had 
just  paid  for  it,  when  it  took  fire  and  was  burnt  to 
ashes. 

One,  who  knew  him  well,  a  classmate  of  his  bro 
ther  Ezekiel,  from  whom  I  have  before  quoted,  thus 
speaks  of  Mr.  Webster  when  he  first  began  to  take  a 
part  in  the  great  political  drama  which  has  been  on 
the  stage  for  forty  years. 


TAKES    PART    IN    POLITICS.  39 

"It  was  natural,"  said  he,  "that  one  so  well 
fitted  for  public  life  should  feel  some  desire  to  try 
his  fortune  in  politics,  at  least  so  far  as  to  measure 
his  strength  with  those  of  other  men,  who  had  gained 
reputation  in  the  halls  of  legislation.  He  began 
well ;  the  times  were  stormy  ;  war  hung  over  us ; 
party  spirit  was  full  of  bitterness  in  every  part  of 
the  country ;  sound  and  fury  took  the  place  of  fair 
discussion,  and  rancorous  feuds  were  in  every  town 
and  village,  but  Mr.  Webster  entered  into  none  of 
them.  He  was  decided,  firm,  and  straightforward. 
No  politician  was  ever  more  direct  or  bold  5  he  had 
nothing  of  the  demagogue  about  him. 

"  Fully  persuaded  of  the  true  course,  he  followed 
it  with  so  much  firmness  and  principle,  that  some 
times  his  serenity  was  taken  by  the  furious  and 
headstrong  as  apathy ;  but  when  a  fair  and  legiti 
mate  opportunity  offered,  he  came  out  with  such 
strength  and  manliness,  that  the  doubting  were  satis 
fied,  and  the  complaining  silenced.  In  the  worst  of 
times,  and  in  the  darkest  hour,  he  had  faith  in  the 
redeeming  qualities  of  the  people.  They  might  be 
wrong,  but  he  saw  into  their  true  character  suffi 
ciently  to  believe  that  they  would  never  remain  per 
manently  in  error.  In  some  of  his  conversations  up 
on  the  subject,  he  compared  the  people  in  their  man 
agement  of  national  affairs  to  that  of  the  sagacious 
and  indefatigable  raftsmen  on  his  own  Merrimack, 
who  had  falls  and  shoals  to  contend  with  in  their 
course  to  the  ocean — guiding  fearlessly  and  skilfully 
over  the  former,  between  rocks  and  through  breakers, 
and  when  reaching  the  sand-banks,  jumping  off  into 


40  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

the  water,  with  lever,  axe,  and  oar,  and  then  with 
pushing,  cutting,  and  directing,  made  all  rub  and  go, 
to  the  astonishment  of  those  looking  on. 

"  The  first  halo  of  political  glory  that  hung  around 
his  brow,  was  at  a  Convention  of  the  great  spirits  in 
the  county  of  Rockingham,  where  he  then  resided, 
and  such  representatives  from  other  counties  as  were 
sent  to  this  Convention,  to  take  into  consideration 
the  state  of  the  nation,  and  to  mark  out  such  a  course 
for  themselves  as  should  be  deemed  advisable  by  the 
collected  wisdom  of  those  assembled.  On  this  occa 
sion,  an  Address,  with  a  string  of  Resolutions  were 
proposed  for  adoption,  of  which  he  was  said  to  be 
the  author.  They  exhibited  uncommon  powers  of 
intellect,  and  a  profound  knowledge  of  our  national 
interests.  He  made  a  most  powerful  speech  in  sup 
port  of  these  Resolutions,  portions  of  which  were  re 
printed  at  that  time,  and  which  were  much  admired 
in  every  part  of  the  Union." 

A  gentleman  residing  in  Portsmouth  was  present, 
and  on  the  day  following  wrote  this  account  of  it : 
"  Yesterday  there  was  a  meeting  in  this  County,  at 
Brentwood,  a  town  about  twenty  miJes  from  Ports 
mouth.  It  was  called  by  notification  in  the  public 
papers.  It  was  the  most  numerous  ever  known  in 
this  State,  more  than  two  thousand  persons  attended, 
and  more  than  jive  hundred  carriages  conveyed 
them  there,  besides  horses,  &c. 

"  The  company  began  to  assemble  in  the  meeting 
house,  but  soon  found  that  would  not  contain  them, 
and  erected  a  stage  in  the  open  air.  They  chose 
Samuel  Tenney,  Esc[.,  of  Exeter  (formerly  member 


TAKES    PART    IN   POLITICS.  41 

of  Congress),  their  Chairman,  and  Walter  A.  Kent, 
their  Secretary,  and  were  addressed  by  N.  A.  Haven, 
George  Sullivan,  Daniel  Webster,  Esqs.,  and  a  num 
ber  of  others,  in  speeches  that  are  highly  spoken  of 
by  good  judges. 

"  A  Committee  of  seventeen  was  appointed  to 
draft  resolutions,  &c. ;  the  meeting  adjourned  for  two 
hours  ;  they  re-assembled  at  the  time  ;  the  Committee 
reported  a  very  spirited  address,  and  a  set  of  resolu 
tions  equal  to  any  that  have  been  published;  and 
they  were  adopted  unanimously."  Mr.  Webster  oc 
cupied  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  he  astonished  all 
who  heard  him  in  this  new  field  with  the  extent  of 
his  knowledge  of  political  affairs.  How  gratifying  it 
would  be  if  the  whole  of  his  speech  had  been  reported. 
In  those  days  as  in  the  present,  there  were  persons 
who  talked  of  dissolving  the  Union. 

I  quote  a  passage  from  his  address  adopted  by 
the  meeting  to  show  that  Mr.  Webster  was  ready 
then  as  now  to  protest  against  dissolution,  to  fore 
warn  his  countrymen,  and  to  resist  by  manly  argu 
ment  all  such  treasonable  attempts  to  undo  what  our 
forefathers  had  done. 

"  We  shrink,"  said  the  address,  "  from  the  separa 
tion  of  the  States,  as  an  event  fraught  with  incalcula 
ble  evils,  and  it  is  among  our  strongest  objections  to 
the  present  course  of  measures,  that  they  have,  in 
our  opinion,  a  very  dangerous  and  alarming  bearing 
on  such  an  event.  If  a  separation  of  the  States 
ever  should  take  place,  it  will  be  on  some  occasion 
when  one  portion  of  the  country  undertakes  to  con 
trol,  to  regulate,  and  to  sacrifice  the  interest  of  an- 


42  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

other;  when  a  small  and  heated  majority  in  the 
Government,  taking  counsel  of  their  passions,  and 
not  of  their  reason,  contemptuously  disregarding  the 
interests,  and,  perhaps,  stopping  the  mouths  of  a 
large  and  respectable  minority,  shall  by  hasty,  rash, 
and  ruinous  measures,  threaten  to  destroy  essential 
rights,  and  lay  waste  the  most  important  interests." 

Liberty  and  Union  were  with  him  then,  as  they 
are  now  and  for  ever,  one  and  inseparable. 

After  this  event,  Mr.  "Webster  was  acknowledged 
to  be  the  master  spirit  of  the  city  in  which  he  lived. 
The  waves  of  political  excitement,  like  the  waves  of 
the  ocean,  ran  high,  as  the  storm  of  that  day  raged, 
and  the  voices  of  mere  politicians  were  drowned  in 
the  tumult.  Men  anxious  to  know  the  right  and  do 
it,  withheld  their  opinions  till  Mr.  Webster  had  de 
livered  his,  and  declared  what  course  he  should 
pursue,  and  then,  as  if  all  doubts  were  removed,  they 
went  forward  with  zeal.  Flippant  speeches,  appeals: 
to  the  feelings  when  the  question  was  war  or  no  war, 
would  not  suffice.  To  quote  again  his  own  words, 
"  The  graces  taught  in  the  schools,  the  costly  orna 
ments,  and  studied  contrivances  of  speech,  shock  and 
disgust  men,  when  their  own  lives,  and  the  fate  of  their 
wives,  their  children,  and  their  country,  hang  on  the 
decision  of  the  hour.  Then  words  have  lost  their 
power,  rhetoric  is  vain,  and  all  elaborate  oratory  con 
temptible.  Even  genius  itself  feels  rebuked,  and 
subdued,  as  in  the  presence  of  higher  qualities. 
Then,  patriotism  is  eloquent ;  then,  self-devotion  is 
eloquent. 

A  gentleman  travelling  through  Portsmouth,  gives 


TAKES    PART    IN    POLITICS.  43 

an  account  of  one  of  the  gatherings  of  the  people, 
and  of  the  enthusiasm  displayed  which  I  think  will 
interest  you. 

He  says  his  carriage  was  brought  to  the  door, 
and  he  was  about  to  get  into  it,  when  the  hostler 
said,  "  Sir,  are  you  going  to  leave  the  town?  Mr. 
Webster  is  to  speak  to-night !"  The  gentleman  find 
ing  all  classes  so  much  delighted  to  hear  that  Mr. 
Webster  was  going  to  speak,  ordered  his  horses  to 
the  stable,  and  put  off  his  journey  until  the  morrow. 
At  early  candlelight  he  went  to  the  Hall  where  the 
meeting  was  held.  It  was  filled  to  overflowing,  but 
some  persons  seeing  that  he  was  a  stranger  gave  way, 
and  he  found  a  convenient  place  to  stand ;  no  one 
could  sit.  A  tremendous  noise  soon  announced  that 
the  orator  himself  had  arrived  ;  but  as  soon  as  the 
meeting  was  organized,  another  arose  to  make  some  re 
marks  upon  the  object  of  the  Caucus.  He  was  heard 
with  a  polite  apathy.  Another  and  another  came, 
and  all  spoke  well ;  but  this  would  not  do.  and  if 
Chatham  had  been  among  them,  or  St.  Paul,  they 
would  not  have  met  the  expectations  of  the  multitude. 
The  admired  orator  at  length  arose,  and  was  for  a 
while  musing  upon  something,  which  was  drowned  by 
a  constant  cheering ;  but  when  order  was  restored, 
he  went  on  with  great  serenity  and  ease  to  make  his 
rem  irks,  without  apparently  making  the  slightest  at 
tempt  to  gain  applause. 

The  audience  was  still,  except  now  and  then  a 
murmur  of  delight,  which  showed  that  the  great 
.mass  of  the  hearers  were  ready  to  burst  into  a  thun 
der  of  applause,  if  those  who  generally  set  the  ex- 


44  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ample  would  have  given  an  intimation  that  it  might 
have  been  done  ;  but  they,  devouring  every  word, 
made  signs  to  prevent  any  interruption.  The  ha 
rangue  was  ended ;  the  roar  of  applause  lasted  long, 
and  was  sincere  and  heart-felt.  It  was  a  strong, 
gentlemanly  and  appropriate  speech,  but  there  was 
not  a  particle  of  the  demagogue  about  it — nothing 
like  the  speeches  on  the  hustings,  to  catch  attention. 
He  drew  a  picture  of  the  candidates  on  both  sides  of 
the  question,  and  proved,  as  far  as  reason  and  argu 
ment  could  prove,  the  superiority  of  those  of  his 
own  choice ;  and  this  gentleman,  who  was  a  very 
good  judge,  has  often  said  that  the  most  extraordi 
nary  part  of  it  was,  that  a  promiscuous  audience 
should  have  had  good  sense  enough  to  relish  such 
sound,  good  reasoning,  in  a  place  where  vague  decla 
mation  generally  is  best  received.  As  the  traveller 
went  on  to  the  East,  he  found  the  fame  of  the  speech 
had  preceded  him,  and  was  talked  of  in  every  bar 
room  and  at  every  public  table. 

At  this  time  he  was  quite  young  to  occupy  such 
a  position  j  and  it  must  be  remembered  too,  that  it  was 
in  the  town  where  there  lived  Jeremiah  Mason,  a  man 
theretofore  regarded  throughout  New  England  as  the 
Alpha  and  Omega  of  every  thing  great,  original,  or 
worthy  of  public  consideration.  The  truth  is,  it  was  in 
him.  So  great  a  mind  could  not  be  outshone  or 
overshadowed  by  anybody  less  meritorious,  however 
well  established  in  the  general  estimation. 

Yours  truly. 


ELECTED    TO    CONGRESS. 


45 


ME.  WEBSTER  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS RESULTS  OF  THE  ELECTION 

FIRST   SPEECH   AND    RESOLUTIONS. 

ELMS  FARM,  N.  H.,  Sept.  — ,  1849. 
*  *  *  In  the  year  1812,  after  a  spirited  and 
closely  contested  canvass,  Mr.  Webster  was  elected 
to  Congress.  The  election  here  was  then,  as  has 
been  until  recently,  by  general  ticket.  The  following 
was  the  result  of  the  election : 


THE  WEBSTER  TICKET. 


Daniel  Webster  . 
Bradbury  Cilley  . 
William  Hale  .  . 


John  F.  Parrott  . 
John  H.  Harper  . 
David  L.  Merrill 
Samuel  Dinsmoor 


18,597 
18,595 
18,583 


Samuel  Smith 
Roger  Vose     .     . 
Jeduthun  Wilcox 


18,569 
18,611 
18,478 


OPPOSITION  TICKET. 

Jesse  Johnson     .    .    .  15,927 

Josiah  Butler  ....  15,764 

Number  of  Scattering .  784 


16,051 
15,985 
16,060 
15,996 


It  was  a  proud  day  to  the  personal  friends  of  Mr. 
Webster,  old  and  young,  when  they  finally  ascer 
tained  at  Portsmouth  that  the  ticket,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  his  name,  was  successful,  and  their  re 
joicings  were  very  great. 

The  usual  time  for  the  meeting  of  Congress  was 
in  December,  but  that  was  during  the  war,  and  the 
President  called  an  extra  session  at  an  earlier  day. 
I  have  heard  Mr.  Webster  relate  the  story  of  his 
first  journey  to  the  seat  of  government.  The  "  mail 
coach"  was  then  the  most  expeditious  mode  of  travel 
ling,  and,  in  company  with  agreeable  companions,  he 
set  out  early  in  May.  He  went  to  Boston,  thence  to 
Hartford,  thence  to  New  Haven,  thence  a  very  long 


46  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

journey  to  New- York,  thence  to  Princeton,  the  resi 
dence  of  Governor  Stockton,  and  so  on,  at  the  rate 
of  only  a  few  miles  a  day,  till  he  finally  reached 
Washington.  Mileage  then  meant  something. 

I  have  heard  a  great  many  persons  say,  I  wonder 
what  Mr.  Webster  first  did  and  first  said  on  entering 
Congress.  If  you  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  look 
at  the  records  of  that  day,  it  may  interest  you  to 
know.  I  will  briefly  relate. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1813,  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  There  his  name  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  list  of  members,  as  it  was  published 
by  the  National  Intelligencer  on  the  next  day.  He 
had  never  been  a  member  of  any  Legislative  body, 
yet  it  is  well  known  he  made  himself  perfectly  famil 
iar  in  the  outset  with  all  the  rules  and  orders,  and 
understood  the  law  of  Parliament  as  well  as  it  could 
be  understood  from  books  and  observation.  Hatsell 
and  all  the  writers  on  this  subject  were  thoroughly 
studied. 

The  first  act  of  the  House  in  which  he  was  con 
cerned,  was,  of  course,  to  organize  itself  for  business. 
Henry  Clay  was  chosen  Speaker,  being  a  much  older 
man  and  having  been  some  time  in  Congress. 

The  first  Committee  on  which  Mr.  Webster  served 
was  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs;  which  then, 
owing  to  the  difficulties  in  which  the  country  was 
involved  with  other  countries,  was  the  most  important 
of  the  House.  His  associates  were  Mr.  Calhoun, 
Mr.  Grundy,  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Ingersoll 
and  Mr.  Fish,  of  New- York,  all  great  men. 

He  remained  quiet  in  his  seat,  attending  daily, 


FIRST    SPEECH    IN    CONGRESS.  4Y 

until  June  1 1,  when  he  moved  the  House  on  the  boldest 
measure  that  could  be  brought  before  the  members 
for  their  consideration.  It  was  the  subject  of  certain 
French  Decrees,  known  as  the  Berlin  and  Milan  de 
crees.  I  will  set  it  forth  as  I  find  it  reported  the 
following  day. 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  MAIDEN  SPEECH  IN  CONGRESS. 

Mr.  Webster  rose,  as  he  said,  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  House  to  a  subject  of  considerable  importance 
— a  task  which  he  had  hoped  would  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  some  other  gentleman  better  qualified 
than  himself  to  undertake  it.  He  then  read  the  fol 
lowing  resolutions,  which  embodied  his  sentiments : 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  inform  this  House,  unless  the 
public  interest  should,  in  his  opinion,  forbid  such 
communication,  '  when,  by  whom,  and  in  what  man 
ner  the  first  intelligence  was  given  to  this  Government 
of  the  decree  of  the  Government  of  France,  bearing 
date  the  28th  of  April,  1811,  and  purporting  to  be  a 
definitive  repeal  of  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  inform  this  House,  whether 
Mr.  Russell,  late  Charge  d  Affaires  of  the  United 
States  at  the  Court  of  France,  hath  ever  admitted  or 
denied  to  his  Government  the  correctness  of  the  de 
claration  of  the  Duke  of  Bassano  to  Mr.  Barlow,  the 
late  Minister  of  the  United  States  at  that  Court,  as 
stated  in  Mr.  Barlow's  letter  of  the  12th  of  May, 
1812,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  the  said  decree 
of  April  28th,  1811,  had  been  communicated  to  his 


48  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

(Mr.  Barlow's)  predecessor  there  ;  and  to  lay  before 
this  House  any  correspondence  with  Mr.  Russell  rela 
tive  to  that  subject,  which  it  may  not  be  improper  to 
communicate ;  and  also  any  correspondence  between 
Mr.  Barlow  and  Mr.  Russell  on  that  subject,  which 
may  be  in  the  possession  of  the  Department  of  State. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  inform  this  House,  whether  the 
Minister  of  France  near  the  United  States  ever  in 
formed  this  Government  of  the  existence  of  the  said 
decree  of  the  28th  of  April,  1811,  and  to  lay  before 
the  House  any  correspondence  that  may  have  taken 
place  with  the  said  Minister  relative  thereto,  which 
the  President  may  not  think  improper  to  be  commu 
nicated. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  communicate  to  this  House 
any  other  information  which  may  be  in  his  possession, 
and  which  he  may  not  deem  injurious  to  the  public 
interest  to  disclose,  relative  to  the  said  decree  of  the 
28th  of  April,  1811,  and  tending  to  show  at  what 
time,  by  whom,  and  in  what  manner  the  said  decree 
was  first  made  known  to  this  Government  or  to  any 
of  its  representatives  or  agents." 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  be  requested,  in 
case  the  fact  be,  that  the  first  information  of  the  ex 
istence  of  said  decree  of  the  28th  of  April,  1811,  ever 
received  by  this  Government  or  any  of  its  ministers 
or  agents,  was  that  communicated  in  May,  1812,  by 
the  Duke  of  Bassano,  to  Mr.  Barlow,  and  by  him  to 
his  Government,  as  mentioned  in  his  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  of  May  12,  1812,  and  the  accom- 


FIRST    SPEECH    IN    CONGRESS.  49 

panying  papers,  to  inform  this  House  whether  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  hath  ever  received 
from  that  of  France  any  explanation  of  the  reasons  of 
that  decree  being  concealed  from  this  Government 
and  its  Ministers  for  so  long  a  time  after  its  date ; 
and,  if  such  explanation  has  been  asked  by  this  Gov 
ernment,  and  has  been  omitted  to  be  given  by  that 
of  France,  whether  this  Government  has  made  any 
remonstrance,  or  expressed  any  dissatisfaction,  to  the 
Government  of  France,  at  such  concealment." 

These  resolutions  in  our  time  would  appear  to  be 
harmless,  and  would  lack  the  causes  of  excitement, 
but  at  that  day  they  were  considered  by  some  politi 
cal  leaders  nothing  less  than  so  many  firebrands  sent 
forth  to  destroy  the  peace  and  harmony  of  this  coun 
try,  and  calculated  to  injure  the  nation  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world. 

After  reading  them,  Mr.  Webster  said  : 

"  In  offering  these  resolutions,  it  was  not  his  in 
tention,  he  said,  to  enter  into  any  discussion  or 
argument,  or  to  advance  any  proposition  whatever, 
on  which  gentlemen  could  adopt  different  views  or 
take  different  sides.  He  would  merely  remark,  by 
way  of  explanation,  what  would  be  remembered  by 
all,  that  the  subjects  to  which  these  resolutions  re 
ferred,  were  intimately  connected  with  the  cause  of 
the  present  war.  The  revocation  of  the  orders  in 
council  of  Great  Britain  was  the  main  point  on  which 
the  war  turned,  and  it  had  been  demanded  for  the 
reason  that  the  French  decrees  had  ceased  to  exist. 

This  then  was  the  point  at  issue.  Mr.  Webster 
remarked,  on  what  he  termed  the  contradictory  evi- 

VOL.  II.  8 


50  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

dence  on  this  head,  the  letter  of  Mr.  Champagny,  £n 
one  hand,  asserting  the  revocation,  the  speech  of  the 
Emperor  to  the  free  cities,  on  the  other,  denying  it 
— the  decisions  of  the  French  admiralty  courts,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  opposite  decisions  of  the  same 
courts  on  the  other.  The  whole  matter,  in  short, 
was  involved  in  doubt. 

But,  on  the  declaration  of  war,  and  not  until 
then,  a  decree  appeared  repealing  the  French  decrees ; 
a  decree  which,  if  issued,  had  lain  dormant,  were 
brutum  fulmen,  until  after  the  war  commenced,  and 
then  only  made  its  appearance.  In  March  last,  it 
would  also  be  recollected,  the  President  had  commu 
nicated  to  Congress,  immediately  before  its  adjourn 
ment,  certain  correspondence  between  our  Government 
and  its  Minister  to  France,  the  prominent  feature  of 
which  correspondence  was,  that,  in  an  interview  be 
tween  our  Minister  and  the  French  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  which  took  place  about  the  first  of 
May,  1812,  it  was  stated  by  the  letter  that  the  decree 
in  question  had  been  put  into  the  hands  of  our  Minis 
ter  in  France,  and  transmitted  to  the  French  Minis 
ter  in  the  United  States,  at  the  time  at  which  it 
bore  date.  To  shed  light  on  this  transaction,  Mr. 
Webster  said  it  was  that  he  moved  these  resolves, 
in  the  discharge  of  what  he  deemed  a  duty  to  his 
constituents  and  his  country.  The  declaration  of  the 
French  Minister  had  a  great  bearing  on  the  reputa 
tion  of  the  country — on  the  reputation  of  those 
persons  who,  in  their  official  characters,  represented 
the  dignity  of  the  nation. 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  that  this  speech 


FIRST    SPEECH    IN    CONGRESS.  51 

was  not  fully  reported.  It  produced  a  profound  sen 
sation  in  the  House.  "  No  member  before,"  says  a 
person  then  in  the  House,  "  ever  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  House  so  closely,  in  his  first  speech.  Mem 
bers  left  their  seats  when  they  could  not  sec  the 
speaker  face  to  face,  and  sat  down  or  stood  on  the 
floor,  fronting  him.  All  listened  attentively  and  si 
lently  during  the  whole  speech ;  and  when  it  was 
over,  many  went  up  and  warmly  congratulated  the 
orator  ;  among  whom  were  some,  not  the  most  nig 
gard  of  their  compliments,  and  who  most  dissented 
from  the  views  he  had  expressed." 

Chief  Justice  Marshall,  writing  to  a  friend  some 
time  after  this  speech,  says  : 

"  At  the  time  when  this  speech  was  delivered,  I 
did  not  know  Mr.  Webster,  but  I  was  so  much  struck 
with  it,  that  I  did  not  hesitate  then  to  state  that  Mr. 
Webster  was  a  very  able  man,  and  would  become  one 
of  the  very  first  statesmen  in  America,  and  perhaps 
the  very  first." 

Mr.  Grosvenor  having  required  the  Yeas  and 
Nays  on  the  question  of  proceeding  at  once  to  con 
sider  the  resolutions,  they  were  found  to  be  as  follows : 
For  consideration,  132  ;  against  it,  28.  This  showed 
the  effect  of  the  speech  on  the  House. 

The  resolutions  having  been  again  read,  Mr.  Bibb 
said  he  was  persuaded  that  on  every  proper  occasion, 
the  most  perfect  disposition  would  be  manifested  by 
the  House,  to  ask  for  any  information  solicited  by 
one  of  its  members.  It  was  unquestionably  their 
right,  and  under  certain  circumstances,  their  duty  to 
ask  for  information  of  the  Executive  in  relation  to 


52  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

public  affairs  ;  but  under  other  circumstances  it  might 
be  improper.  We  are,  therefore,  said  Mr.  B.,  in  ex 
ercising  its  right,  to  judge  of  the  effect  any  call  is 
likely  to  produce  on  the  public  service.  If  it  will 
not  be  prejudicial,  the  call  ought  to  be  indulged  ;  but 
if  it  might  do  injury,  it  would  unquestionably  be 
proper  to  refuse  the  call.  For  myself,  said  Mr.  B., 
I  am  unable  to  determine  at  present,  from  the  great 
extent  of  the  resolutions,  whether  it  would  be  proper 
to  make  the  call  or  not.  No  injury  certainly  could 
result  from  a  day's  delay.  Mr.  B.  moved  therefore, 
that  the  resolutions  lie  on  the  table,  and  be  ordered 
to  be  printed. 

Mr.  Webster,  with  a  courtesy  which  governed  all 
his  congressional  career,  said  he  had  not  the  least 
objection  to  this  course.  He  was  willing  to  give  the 
gentleman  every  opportunity  to  examine  the  resolu 
tions,  under  the  perfect  conviction  that  he  would  find 
that  nothing  was  demanded  which  would  in  any  way 
be  prejudicial  to  the  public  service. 

The  resolves  were  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  ac 
cordingly. 

After  a  few  days  had  elapsed,  these  resolutions 
were  taken  up  by  the  House.  They  became  the  sub 
ject  of  a  most  exciting  debate,  which  was  continued 
for  a  great  many  weeks  of  the  session.  They  were 
finally  disposed  of  as  Mr.  Webster  desired,  and  the 
information  sought  after  was  obtained. 

The  subject  arrested  the  attention  of  every  in 
telligent  man  in  the  United  States.  Thenceforth 
Mr.  Webster  was  on  the  swell  of  every  wave  of  pub- 


WEBSTER    AT    HOME.  53 

lie  opinion,  and  his  name  is  connected  with  every  im 
portant  act  found  in  the  history  of  this  country. 

Thus,  you  see,  sir,  that  I  have  given  some  account 
of  Mr.  Webster  from  his  birth  to  the  time  he  entered 
Congress,  including  his  maiden  speech.  I  know  much 
more  than  I  have  written  that  is  creditable  to  him, 
but  I  will  not  trouble  you  to  read  it.  What  I  have 
written  may  not  be  worth  the  pains  I  have  taken. 
Little  very  little  has  been  known  about  his  early  life. 
Everybody  who  knows  anything  of  Mr.  Webster, 
knows  that  he  is  himself  not  the  hero  of  many  of  the 
stories  or  anecdotes  in  telling  which  he  completely 
charms  his  hearers.  There  are  only  a  few  persons 
who  ever  hear  him  speak  at  any  length  of  his  boy 
hood,  or  of  the  toils  he  endured  and  the  difficulties 
he  surmounted  to  reach  his  position  among  men.  I 
have  met  a  few  persons  who  knew  something  of  him, 
here  and  there  an  anecdote,  yet,  during  an  acquaint 
ance  of  fifteen  years  with  him  and  many  of  his  best 
friends,  I  have  never  met  any  one  who  knew  much 
of  his  early  life,  or  the  incidents  of  his  school-boy 
days,  or  of  the  beginning  of  his  brilliant  professional 
career.  His  public  life  the  world  knows  by  heart. 

Yours,  with  regard. 


MR.  WEBSTER   AT   HOME WELCOME. 

MARSHFIELD,  Oct.  3,  1842. 

*  *  *  Towards  evening  I  arrived  at  this  town, 
distant  from  Boston  about  thirty  miles,  in  a  south 
east  direction,  and  directly  on  the  ocean.  It  is  in 


54  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

the  old  Plymouth  Colony,  chiefly  occupied  by  the  de 
scendants  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  is  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  most  interesting  places  in  the  United  States. 
Not  being  on  any  great  thoroughfare,  it  is  out  of  the 
way,  and  few  have  ever  visited  it.  Here  I  found  the 
residence — the  country-seat — of  Daniel  Webster.  I 
knew  that  he  had  a  place  in  this  region  of  the  State, 
to  which  he  fled  occasionally  from  the  toils  of  his 
public  duties,  and  I  supposed  he  had  been  indifferent 
as  to  the  place  chosen  for  his  retirement.  Repose,  I 
conjectured,  was  his  first  object,  and  that,  I  presumed, 
he  was  enjoying  in  some  little  farm  cottage,  by  the 
side  of  a  bubbling  brook,  in  some  glen  shaded  by  a 
mountain's  brow,  where  he  could  think  in  solitude 
over  the  vast  matters  committed  to  his  charge.  But 
judge  of  my  surprise,  when  I  came  round  the  brow  of 
a  hill  and  discovered  instead  of  a  little  cottage  by  a 
brook,  in  a  glen,  an  old  and  stately  mansion,  of  ample 
dimensions,  surrounded  by  aged  elms,  barns  and  sheds, 
the  most  prominent  object  in  view,  situated  upon  the 
shore  of  the  ocean,  where  the  walls  of  his  garden 
are  lashed  by  the  waves,  and  where  he  may  embark 
for  any  part  of  the  world.  In  each  direction  from 
this  point  lay  vast  and  fertile  fields,  in  which  I 
saw  his  "  lowing  herds  and  bleating  flocks,"  on  the 
right,  and  on  the  left  I  saw  his  harvest  grounds, 
from  which  his  abundant  crops  had  been  gathered,  or 
were  ripe  for  the  sickle.  I  followed  the  main  avenue 
which  leads  through  his  plantation  towards  Duxbury^ 
till  I  had  reached  the  meandering  way  that  led  to 
the  door. 

As  I  approached,  I  saw,  through  the  surrounding 


EARLY    RISING.  55 


trees,  the  Secretary  himself  clad  in  his  farming  at 
tire,  with  his  hands  clasped  behind  him  (it  being 
after  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over),  pacing  his 
piazza  to  and  fro  with  a  quick  step  and  cheerful 
countenance,  apparently  as  regardless  of  conflicting 
opinions  and  the  complaints  made  concerning  his 
independent  speech  recently  made  at  Faneuil  Hall, 
as  he  was  of  the  murmuring  of  the  waves,  which, 
while  gently  laving  the  beach,  made  music  for  his 
ears. 

I  need  not  tell  you  of  the  cordial  manner  in 
which  I  was  welcomed,  or  how  impossible  it  was  to 
tear  myself  away  after  I  had  once  crossed  the  threshold 
— or  of  the  cheerfulness  of  the  family  circle  which, 
during  the  evening,  surrounded  the  crackling  fire. 
To-morrow  I  am  bidden  to  prepare  for  an  expedition 
among  the  codfish  and  haddock  with  the  renowned 
Seth  Peterson  ;  and,  on  the  following  day,  Mr.  Web 
ster  says  "  a  stag  must  die." 

Yours  truly. 


EARLY      RISING FRUITS     AND     OTHER     PRODUCTS OOD     FISHING 

FISH   HOUSE SETH   PETERSON HOW  TO    MAKE   CHOWDER, 

MARSHFIELD,  Monday,  Oct.  4,  1842. 
At  an  early  hour  this  morning,  Seth  Peterson, 
Who  always  knows  which  way  the  wind  blows,  and  at 
what  time  precisely  it  will  haul  round  to  the  east  or 
to  the  south,  gave  notice  at  the  mansion  that  this  was 
to  be  a  fine  day  for  sport ;  that  "  the  codfish  and  had 
dock  were  aching  to  be  caught ;"  and  for  the  benefit 


56  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  my  particular  and  most  excellent  young  friend, 
Mr.  Edward  Webster,  whose  guest  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  he  announced  that  the  "  coots" — a  kind  of 
duck— <:  would  fly  thick  and  low,  and  stop  in  the 
air  to  be  shot."  But  neither  Seth  Peterson,  nor 
any  other  man  who  comes  after  the  break  of  day,  can 
find  Mr.  Webster  asleep.  I  remember  to  have  heard 
him,  some  time  ago,  make  this  remark  to  a  young 
friend,  while  impressing  upon  him  the  importance  of 
early  rising  ;  "  What  little  I  have  accomplished  in 
my  life  has  been  done  in  the  morning."  Then  he 
thinks,  then  he  reads,  and  then  he  writes.  His  habit 
in  this  respect,  is  fixed ;  and  when  others  begin  theirs, 
his  day's  work  is  over. 

Before  the  early  breakfast  of  which  all  partook, 
with  cheerful  anticipations  as  to  the  sports  of  the  day, 
he  had  planned  and  commenced  all  the  business  to  be 
done.  His  apples,  of  which  he  has  the  finest  quality 
and  greatest  variety,  are  carefully  picked,  each  one 
from  the  tree  by  the  hand,  and  stored  in  casks — 
some  designed  for  England,  some  for  Boston,  some 
for  New-York,  some  for  Philadelphia,  and  some  for 
almost  all  the  cities  along  the  shore  of  the  Atlantic. 
Who  does  not  want  an  apple  produced  here  ?  His 
potatoes,  too,  which  "  can't  be  beat,"  and  of  which 
he  had  an  enormous  quantity,  are  dug  and  stored 
away,  with  a  regard  for  their  preservation  and  im 
provement,  which  demonstrates  that  nothing  pertain 
ing  to  their  cultivation  has  escaped  his  reading,  or  has 
not  been  the  subject  of  his  thoughts  and  experi 
ments.  His  onions,  with  which  his  gardens  abound, 


COD    FISHING.  57 


are  also  harvested,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels 
have  been  shipped  to-day  for  Savannah. 

These  arrangements,  and  others  of  a  similar  char« 
acter,  touching  his  extensive  farming  operations  being 
made,  so  that  nothing  in  any  department  would  suf 
fer  during  his  absence,  we  set  forth  just  as  the  sun 
was  apparently  rising  from  the  ocean,  for  the  fish* 
house,  which  is  on  the  south-east  corner  of  his  farm, 
distant  nearly  two  miles.  We  drove  a  small  white 
Canadian  horse,  with  a  switch  tail,  and  a  small,  but 
comfortable  wagon,  built  after  the  fashion  peculiar  to 
this  section  of  the  State,  wide  and  stout,  so  that  it 
will  neither  upset  nor  break  down.  Behind  the  seat 
we  carried  a  little  provender  for  the  horse,  and  in  a 
basket,  a  small  ration  of  beef  and  bread  for  ourselves. 

Arrived  at  the  fish-house,  we  found  Seth  Peter 
son  preparing  for  the  sport.  This  establishment  is  a 
small,  neat  and  safe  building,  erected  at  the  end  of  a 
long  lane,  near  the  brink  of  a  river  which  empties  it 
self  into  the  ocean,  and  forms  a  secure  harbor  for  a 
variety  of  small  craft ;  some  owned  by  gentlemen  who 
resort  there  for  sport,  and  others  by  such  good  men 
as  Seth  Peterson,  Seth  Atwil,  Capt.  Weston,  Tom 
Kent,  and  others,  who  engage  in  fishing  and  sporting 
occasionally,  for  the  emoluments  which  they  afford. 
In  this  building,  Mr.  Webster  keeps  his  boats,  and 
all  the  rigging  which  they  require,  together  with  at 
least  half  a  dozen  guns,  some  double  barrelled,  some 
single,  some  with  large  bore  and  some  with  small, 
intended  for  the  various  kinds  of  game  found  here  at 
different  seasons.  While  he  is  absent  discharging  his 
public  duties,  Seth  Peterson  keeps  the  key.  Nothing 

VOL.  II.  3* 


58  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

better  than  this  could  be  contrived  for  security  or 
comfort,  and  yet  everything  is  as  plain  as  you  can 
find  in  the  possession  of  the  most  unpretending  citi 
zen  any  where  on  the  coast. 

While  Commodore  Peterson  was  "rigging  the 
float,"  and  shipping  the  fishing  tackle,  we  stood  on  the 
shore,  viewing  the  stirring  scene. 

Other  parties  were  at  the  same  time  preparing 
for  an  expedition  similar  to  our  own.  I  wish  you 
could  have  been  here  to  take  a  glance  at  the  group 
as  I  saw  it. 

You  would  have  seen  foremost  the  great  defender 
of  the  Constitution,  in  a  field  far  different  from  that 
in  which  you  are  accustomed  to  view  him.  There 
was  no  "  sea  of  upturned  faces  before  him."  to  be 
agitated  and  made  boisterous  with  enthusiasm  as 
"  his  voice  thundered  and  his  countenance  flashed 
forth  the  lightning  of  his  genius  ;"  but  a  real  sea  was 
before  him,  as  calm  and  placid  as  you  can  conceive  it 
to  be,  arid  from  its  surface  the  beams  of  the  morning 
sun  were  reflected  with  uncommon  splendor. 

He  was  not  dressed  as  a  dignified  statesman, 
waiting  in  his  Department  to  receive  the  proposi 
tions  of  the  British  Plenipotentiary,  for  establishing 
and  continuing  the  peace  of  the  world,  but  in  the 
simple  garb  of  a  fisherman,  with  his  thick  cow-hide 
boots  reaching  to  his  knees,  and  which,  by  the  free 
application  of  melted  tallow,  were  made  water-proof. 
Over  his  frock-coat,  which  was  buttoned  up  to  his 
throat,  he  wore  a  sort  of  gray  cloth  or  linsey-woolsey 
overcoat,  which  afforded  ample  protection  against  the 
chill  of  an  October  morning.  On  his  head  he  wore 


COMMODORE    PETERSON.  59 

an  otter  cap  of  ancient  date  with  an  oval-shaped 
crown,  having  a  wide  frontispiece  which  shaded  his 
brow  and  face. 

If  by  "  hook  or  by  crook "  I  could  have  turned 
up  the  frontal  of  his  cap,  he  would  have  appeared, 
with  that  coat  and  those  boots,  as  he  stood  at  one 
moment  with  his  hand  inserted  in  the  breast  of  his 
overcoat — for  all  the  world  like  Napoleon,  as  you 
have  seen  that  great  conqueror  a  thousand  times  re 
presented  in  one  of  his  standing  attitudes.  Nor  was 
his  brow  overcast  and  dark  with  revolving  thoughts, 
as  if  he  were  inditing  to  some  foreign  power  a  dis 
patch  more  potent  than  the  sending  forth  of  an  army 
or  a  navy,  and  in  some  emergency  which  was  "  instant, 
overwhelming,  and  admitting  of  no  delay ;"  but  he 
was  entirely  unbent,  and  his  face  beamed  with  smiles, 
as  he  enjoyed  the  jokes  of  those  around  him.  I  have 
heard  him  in  the  Senate,  which,  when  the  Chamber 
was  crowded  "  from  pit  to  dome,"  has  listened  to  him 
for  hours  with  infinite  instruction  and  delight,  when 
he  "  lavished  about  him  the  opulence  of  intellectual 
wealth,"  and  "  showered  down  words  of  might  and 
fire."  I  have  seen  him  at  the  bar  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  when  "  he  goes  on  hammering  out  link  by  link 
his  chain  of  argument  with  ponderous  blows."  I 
have  seen  him  before  a  vast  multitude,  when  "all 
eyes  were  turned  upon  him,  and  breathless  attention 
was  the  signal  for  his  first  accent ;"  when  the  enemies 
of  his  country  awakened  him,  as  if  by  the  cry,  "  the 
Philistines  are  upon  thee  ;"  when  the  strength  of  his 
seven  locks  is  felt,"  when  he  rises  in  his  might  and 
takes  "  the  doors  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  the 


60  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

two  posts,  bar  and  all,  and  removes  them  where  he 
pleases ;"  but  I  have  never  seen  him  where  his  pres 
ence  gave  me  higher  gratification,  or  where  those  fine 
qualities  which  so  distinctly  adorn  his  nature,  shone 
out  with  more  brilliancy  than  when  he  was  talking 
with  those  simple  fishermen.  *  *  * 

All  things  being  ready,  we  embarked,  and  were 
soon  out  of  the  harbor,  upon  the  ocean,  when  the 
Commodore  spread  all  sail,  and  away  we  sped  before 
a  gentle  breeze,  which  had  now  sprung  up,  as  if  at 
Seth  Peterson's  bidding. 

I  ought  now  to  say  a  word  about  him.  You 
must  know  he  is  about  forty-seven  years  of  age, 
standing  about  five  feet  five  inches  in  his  boots ;  a 
stout,  robust  and  hardy  fisherman,  not  at  all  unused, 
however,  to  do  any  thing  and  almost  every  thing  that 
is  done  on  the  land.  His  complexion  is  rather  florid, 
his  hair  sandy,  and  his  countenance  indicates  great 
frankness,  integrity,  fortitude,  and  a  very  large  share 
of  that  rare  article,  good  common  sense. 

He  has  a  wife  and  eight  or  nine  children ;  lives 
in  a  cottage  not  far  off,  and  owns  five  or  six  acres  of 
land,  where  he  pastures  his  cows,  feeds  his  pigs,  and 
cultivates  his  potatoes  and  other  garden  vegetables. 
He  almost  always  goes  from  his  cottage  to  the  boat- 
house  across  the  lots,  rarely  taking  the  time  required 
to  go  round  by  the  common  road  ;  and  so,  when  talk 
ing  upon  any  subject,  he  goes  directly  to  the  point  in 
view,  without  "  hemming  and  hawing,"  or  making  use 
of  surplus  words,  and  every  moment  excites  attention 
by  the  aptitude  of  his  remarks.  He  was  immortal 
ized  by  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  speech,  a  few  years  ago, 


COD    FISHING.  61 


at  Saratoga ;  and,  since  then,  the  public  have  been 
anxious  to  see  him,  and  know  more  about  him ;  but 
he  clings  to  his  old  and  honest  occupation,  and  his 
quiet  home,  unmindful  of  what  the  world  at  large 
says  or  thinks  of  his  opinions. 

The  gallant  little  bark  in  which  we  were  seated, 
under  the  guidance  of  Commodore  Peterson,  danced 
over  the  ripples  of  the  sea,  like  a  thing  of  life.  The 
sensations  produced  were  agreeable  beyond  my  power 
to  describe.  The  topics  of  conversation  on  the  way 
were  numerous  and  different ;  sometimes  we  talked 
upon  important  national  questions,  and,  then  descend 
ing,  of  the  habits  of  the  codfish  and  haddock,  and 
many  little  incidents  of  similar  excursions.  The 
attention  which  I  paid  to  the  conversation  almost 
annihilated  time ;  so  much  so,  that  I  thought  I  had 
but  just  embarked,  when  I  was  told  we  were  eight 
miles  at  sea  !  The  canvass  was  dropped,  the  hooks 
were  baited,  the  lines  thrown  over,  and  we  earnestly 
entered  into  the  sport. 

For  about  four  hours  we  lay  on  the  bosom  of  the 
ocean,  now  elevated  above,  and  now  depressed  below, 
the  plane  of  the  surface,  watching  our  lines,  and, 
ever  and  anon,  hauling  in  a  cod  or  a  haddock.  Each 
victim  caught  was  the  signal  or  the  occasion  of  some 
quaint  remark,  some  scintillation  of  wit,  or  the  utter 
ance  of  some  magnificent  thought.  Would  to  Hea 
ven  you  and  Charles  Stetson  had  been  there. 

You  doubtless  remember  the  accounts  of  my  de 
lightful  fishing  excursions,  in  the  brooks  and  rivers 
of  the  southern  tier  of  counties  of  New-York,  while 
making  my  pedestrian  tour  through  that  region,  last 


62  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

winter.  Old  Izaak  Walton  never  enjoyed  himself, 
in  all  his  life,  more  than  I  did,  on  some  of  those  oc 
casions  ;  but  allow  me  to  say  that  this  fishing  for  cod 
and  haddock  on  the  ocean,  under  circumstances  like 
these,  is  as  much  more  exciting  as  the  incidents  of  a 
spirit-stirring  stag-hunt  exceed  the  juvenile  sport  of 
entrapping  mice. 

When  we  became  a  little  weary,  under  the  excite 
ment  and  toil,  the  Commodore  hoisted  sail,  caught 
the  breeze,  and  steered  for  Brandt  Rock,  in  sight  of 
Mr.  Webster's  house,  on  a  point  of  land  jutting  into 
the  sea,  quite  above  high  tide,  and  very  famous  for 
good  shooting. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence,  when  the  ducks 
and  other  wild  fowl  are  flying  along  the  coast,  to  see 
twenty  sportsmen  on  this  rock,  or  in  its  vicinity,  and 
the  report  of  their  guns  reminds  one  of  the  feu  de 
joie  of  a  company  of  militia,  on  some  joyful  occasion. 
After  a  pleasant  sail,  "  beating  in,"  the  wind  blowing 
from  the  shore,  we  reached  the  rock,  and  joined  in 
the  sport.  The  prevailing  birds  to-day  were  "  coots," 
some  with  red  heads  and  white  breasts,  others  dark 
all  over.  We  shot  them  on  the  wing,  and  brought 
home  as  many  as  we  desired. 

At  3  o'clock  we  entered  the  little  harbor,  from 
which  we  had  departed  in  the  morning,  our  bark 
laden  with  fish  and  fowl,  furnishing  ample  proof  of 
skill,  with  both  the  line  and  the  musket ;  ourselves 
delighted  and  invigorated  by  the  exercise,  and  our 
appetites,  notwithstanding  the  bread  and  beef,  keenly 
Bet  for  dinner. 

There  is  no  dyspepsia  incidental  to  such  an  ex- 


HOW   TO    MAKE    CHOWDER.  63 

cursion.  I  will  venture  the  assertion  that  more  can 
be  done  to  repair  the  inroads  upon  one's  health,  made 
by  too  much  application  to  books,  business,  or  mental 
labor,  in  one  day  spent  as  this  morning  was,  than  by 
the  idle  monotony  of  a  dozen  days  spent  at  Saratoga, 
or  any  other  mere  watering-place. 

Landing  at  the  fish-house,  we  found  the  Canadian 
pony  and  the  jolting  wagon  ready  to  take  us  safely 
home,  with  ample  materials  for  a  first-rate  chowder ; 
and  home  we  came,  leaving  Seth  Peterson  to  haul 
ashore  his  float,  and  make  all  fast.  He  is  a  pattern 
of  fidelity. 

Here  let  me  tell  you  how  Mr.  Webster  says  you 
must  make  a  chowder : 

1.  Fry  a  large  bit  of  well-salted  pork  in  the  kettle 
over  the  fire.     Fry  it  thoroughly. 

2.  Pour  in    a    sufficient  quantity  of  water,  and 
then  put  in  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  codfish,  and 
a  fine,  well-dressed  haddock,  both  recently  caught. 

3.  Put  in  three  or  four  good  Irish  potatoes,  for 
which  none  better  can  be  found  than  at  Marshfield, 
and  then  boil  them  well  together.     An  old  fisherman 
generally  puts  in  two  or  three  onions. 

4.  When  they  are  about  done,  throw  in  a  few  of 
the  largest  Boston  crackers,  and  then  apply  the  pep 
per  and  salt  to  suit  the  fancy. 

Such  a  dish,  smoking  hot,  placed  before  you,  after 
a  long  morning  spent  in  the  most  exhilarating  sport, 
will  make  you  no  longer  envy  the  gods. 

Delicacy  forbids  that  I  should  say  a  word,  even 
to  you,  as  to  what  passes  at  dinner,  or  around  the 
cheerful  fireside  in  an  evening  at  this  retreat ;  but  if 


64  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

you  could  see  what  I  see,  you  would  wonder  that  even 
patriotism,  which  burns  in  his  bosom,  or  the  highest 
sense  of  public  duty,  could  draw  him  away  from  such 
a  home,  and  from  allurements  which  Cincinnatus 
himself  would  have  envied. 

The  sun  "  made  a  golden  set,"  indicating  that  to 
morrow  will  be  a  fair  day,  and  we  go  to  our  pillows 
with  high  anticipations  of  the  sports  in  store.  More 
anon. 

Yours  truly. 


ANOTHER   DAY   AT   MARSIIFIELD THE   FARM — THE   WXMBLOWB — 

FORESTS— CATTLE — SHEEP CROPS. 

MARSKFIEI/D,  October  — ,  1842. 

When  I  wrote  you  last  night,  I  expected  to  set 
out  this  morning  for  the  Plymouth  woods,  as  one  of 
a  hunting  party,  firmly  resolved  that  "  this  day  a  stag 
must  die."  The  time  being  fixed,  word  had  been 

sent  to  Messrs. ,  who  were  to  join  us  with  their 

hounds  near  the  field  of  sport,  but  a  foreign  mail  hav 
ing  arrived,  bringing  important  despatches,  Mr.  Web 
ster  is  detained,  and  without  him  the  rest  of  the  party 
would  not  go. 

The  sport  was,  therefore,  put  off  till  to-morrow. 
A  message  to  this  effect  was  sent  to  those  who  were 
to  join  us ;  and  I  have  spent  a  delightful  and  quiet 
day  with  my  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Webster,  quite  dif 
ferent  from  what  I  anticipated  when  I  fell  asleep  last 
night.  Not  a  gun  has  been  fired,  not  a  bird  winged. 

After  breakfast^  the  weather  being  indescribably 


THE    FARM.  65 


fine,  we  set  forth  together  for  a  stroll  over  the  farm. 
The  residence  of  my  young  friend  for  two  or  three 
years  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  in  places 
where  agriculture  and  horticulture  have  attained  their 
greatest  perfection,  has  enlarged  his  views,  enriched 
his  mind,  and  most  eminently  qualified  him  for  the 
highest  enjoyments  as  well  as  most  valuable  improve 
ments,  while,  seeking  relaxation  from  his  studies,  he 
spends  a  month  or  two  on  the  plantation.  * 

The  farm  owned  by  the  sage  of  Marshfield,  em 
braces  about  thirteen  hundred  acres,  and  is  bounded, 
as  I  told  you  in  my  letter  night  before  last,  on  the 
ocean,  where  the  waves  at  high  tide  dash  against  his 
walls,  and  throw  their  spray  into  his  very  garden.  It 
is  composed  of  a  part  of  the  old  estate  of  Governor 
Win  slow,  and  a  part  of  the  estate  of  Mr.  Thomas, 
who  was  a  wealthy  refugee  of  the  olden  time.  The 
Winslow  Mansion,  which  was  built  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  years  ago,  is  still  standing  on  the  premi 
ses,  in  a  pretty  good  state  of  preservation,  bearing, 
however,  the  visible  marks  of  time.  Edward  "Wins- 
low  was  the  most  distinguished  member  of  a  family 
of  eight  children — five  brothers  and  three  sisters. 

All  the  brothers  came  to  New  England.  His 
name  stands  among  the  signers  of  that  famous  com 
pact,  into  which  the  Pilgrims  on  board  the  May 
Flower  entered,  before  they  landed  on  the  llth  of 
November,  1620,  old  style,  and  in  which  they  de 
clared  they  had  "  undertaken  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
honor  of  their  King  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant 
the  first  colony,  and  for  the  better  ordering  and  pro- 


06  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

servation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid,  did 
covenant  and  combine  themselves  together  into  a  civil 
body  politic,  and  by  virtue  thereof  to  enact  just  and 
equal  laws,  ordinances,"  &c. 

From  the  brief  accounts  I  have  seen  of  him,  it 
appears  that  he  was  among  the  foremost  in  perform 
ing  the  daring  exploits,  which  characterized  the  Pil 
grims  in  their  intercourse  with  the  Indians  of  that 
day.     He  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  trusted 
men  in  the  colony.     He  went  to   England  in  1623, 
1624,  1635,  and  1646,  as  agent  of  the  Plymouth  or 
Massachusetts    Colonies;     and  in   1633  was  chosen 
Governor,  to  which  office  he  was  re-elected  in   1636 
and  1644.     He  did  not  return  to  New  England  after 
1646.     In   1655  he  was  sent  by  Cromwell  as  one  of 
the  three  commissioners  to   superintend  the   expedi 
tion  against  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the  West  In 
dies,  and  died  at  sea  near  Hispaniola,  on  the  8th  of 
May,  of  that  year,  in  his  sixtieth  year.     In  1637  he 
obtained  a  grant  of  this  tract  of  kind,  then  called 
Green's  Harbor,  now  Marshfield,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Caresrull.     The  estate  continued  in  the 
family  till   about  ten  years  since,  when  it  came  in 
possession  of  Mr.  Webster.     Edward  Winslow's  son, 
Josiah,  born  at  Plymouth  in   1628,  was  Governor  of 
the  Colony  from  1673  to  his  death  in  1680.     His  last 
surviving  male  descendant,  is  Mr.  Isaac  Winslow,  of 
Boston,  who  possesses  original  portraits  of  these  his 
illustrious  ancestors.     The  graves  of  all  the  "Wins- 
lows  are  on  the  farm,  and  rude  stones  mark  the  place 
where 

"  Deep  is  the  sleep  of  the  brave, 
And  low  their  pillow  of  dust." 


THE    WIN  SLOWS.  67 


The  following  are  some  of  the  inscriptions  on 
their  tomb-stones. 

"  The  Ilonble  JOSIAH  WINSLOW,  Governor  of  New  Plymouth, 
Died  December  ye  18th,  1680.    JEtati*  73." 

"  The  Hon.  ISAAC  WINSLOW,  Esq.,  Dyed  December  ye  14, 
1788.    ^Etatis  67." 

"  Hon.  JOHN  WINSLOW,  Esq., 
Died  April  17,  1774. 
JEtatis  72." 

Near  this  tomb  are  graves  with  stones  on  which 
we  read  the  following  inscriptions : 

"  Here  lycs*buried  the  body  of 
Captain    NATHANIEL    WINSLOW, 

Who  died  Dec.  1, 1719, 
In  the  81st  year  of  his  age." 

"Here  lies  ye  Body  of  Mr.  JOSEPH  WATERMAN,  Junr.  Died 
December  the  23d,  1715,  in  the  39th  year  of  his  age." 

"  DEBORAH  ye  wife  of  NATHANIEL  THOMAS,  Esq.  Deced.  June 
ye  17th,  1791,  in  the  53d  year  of  her  age." 

The  other  part  of  the  farm  remained  in  the 
Thomas  family  until  about  ten  years  ago,  when  Mr. 
Webster  acquired  what  he  now  owns.  On  this  part 
stands  the  old  mansion  house,  built  seventy-two  years 
since,  and  from  which  some  of  the  British  soldiers 
marched  to  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  It  is  not  im 
probable  that  in  this  very  room  the  Colonel  slept  the 
night  before  he  sallied  forth.  There  are  other  houses 
of  less  note,  but  of  ancient  date,  on  the  premises, 
besides  numerous  barns,  sheds,  and  all  the  requisite 
out-houses  for  such  a  plantation. 

Although  the  farm  when  found  by  the  Pilgrims, 


68  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

was,  as  they  said,  a  "spit's  depth,  excellent  black 
mould,  and  fat  in  some  places  ;  two  or  three  great 
oaks,  but  not  very  thick,  pines,  walnuts,  beech,  ash, 
birch,  hazel,  holly,  sassafras  in  abundance,  and  vines 
every  where,  cherry  trees,  plum  trees,  and  many 
others  which  we  know  not.  Many  kinds  of  herbs  we 
found  here  in  winter,  as  strawberry  leaves  innumera 
ble,  sorrel,  yarrow,  carvel,  brookline,  liverworth,  water 
cresses,  great  store  of  leeks  and  onions,  and  an  ex 
cellent  kind  of  flax  and  hemp.  Here  is  sand,  gravel, 
and  excellent  clay,  no  better  in  the  world,  except  for 
pots,  and  will  wash  like  soap,  and  great  store  of 
stone,  though  somewhat  soft,»and  the  best  water  that 
ever  we  drank," — yet  time  had  materially  changed  its 
character,  and  ceaseless  cultivation  had  worn  it  almost 
out.  But  during  the  ten  years  it  has  been  under  the 
hand  of  Mr.  Webster,  it  seems  to  have  been  restored 
to  its  primitive  productiveness. 

A  small  part  of  the  farm  is  what  is  called  here  a 
"  Salt  meadow,"  from  which  he  gathers  annually,  a 
large  quantity  of  hay  for  his  young  cattle.  There 
are  about  three  hundred  acres  of  woodland,  nearly 
two  hundred  of  which  have  been  planted  by  Mr. 
Webster  himself,  and  are  now  in  the  most  flourishing 
condition.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  variety  and 
beauty  of  the  foliage  of  this  young  wilderness  as  I 
saw  it  to-day.  There  is  near  the  house,  a  little  hil 
lock,  which  he  found  a  barren  sand-hill,  blown  about 
by  the  winds,  but  which  is  now  covered  with  thrifty 
trees,  embracing  almost  every  kind  known,  to  the 
forests  of  this  country. 

On  the  apex  of  the  hill  he  has  erected  a  summer- 


THE    FARM. 


69 


house,  which,  with  the  surrounding  grove,  forms  one 
of  the  prettiest  pictures  I  can  imagine.  He  con 
tinues  to  plant  trees,  and,  like  the  late  Stephen  Girard, 
"  would  plant  a  tree  to-day  though  he  were  to  die  to 
morrow."  Before  the  door  of  the  mansion  stands  an 
aged  elm,  which  excites  my  veneration  and  receives 
his  greatest  care.  Its  branches  reach  to  the  ground, 
somewhat  like  those  of  a  weeping-willow. 

The  diameter  .of  the  circle  covered  by  the  hang 
ing  boughs,  measured  from  the  tips  on  one  side  to 
the  other,  is  eighty-six  feet.  Around  the  outside  of 
the  lawn  and  orchard,  which  are  in  the  field  with  the 
mansion,  he  has  planted  a  belt  or  circular  grove,  in 
which  there  is  a  carriage  way  or  walk,  in  a  warm 
day  affording  space  for  the  most  agreeable  ramble. 
Throughout  all  these  groves  there  are  avenues  where 
ladies  may  take  an  airing  on  horseback  or  a  drive  in 
a  carriage  without  obtrusion.  The  day  is  not  far  dis 
tant  when  you  will  see  the  nimble  deer  bounding 
from  side  to  side  as  in  their  native  wilds. 

His  orchard  is  extensive,  and  there  is  no  end  to 
the  variety  of  his  apples,  of  which  I  spoke  in  a  pre 
vious  letter.  To-day  at  dinner  we  drank  Marshfield 
cider,  which,  having  been  bottled  some  time,  is  equal 
in  goodness  to  more  than  half  the  champagne  im 
ported  from  abroad. 

Adjacent  to  the  house  is  a  beautiful  pond  of 
fresh  water,  which  fills  up  the  back  ground  of  the 
scenery,  and  produces  an  enchanting  effect  as  one 
turns  round  to  take  a  view  of  the  whole.  Not  far  off, 
in  his  poultry  yard,  is  another  pond,  in  which  the 
ducks  and  geese,  wild  and  tame,  are  sporting  at  all 


70  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

hours  of  the  day.  In  the  raising  of  poultry,  a  busi 
ness  to  which  few  farmers  give  much  attention,  the 
greatest  pains  have  been  taken,  and  the  greatest  skill 
has  been  displayed. 

It  costs  no  more.  I  find,  to  raise  chickens — any 
one  of  which  is  as  large  as  a  common  turkey — than 
it  does  to  raise  those  of  a  meaner  kind.  It  is  quite 
curious  to  look  into  this  yard  and  see  the  various 
sorts  of  fowls,  brought  hither  from  #11  quarters  of  the 
globe.  Nothwithstanding  the  vast  concerns  which 
have  crowded  upon  the  owner's  mind  for  the  last  ten 
years,  none  of  these  little  things  have  escaped  his  at 
tention.  I  have  seen  in  the  fields  some  seventy  head 
of  cattle,  the  finest  I  have  seen  for  many  a  day. 
While  in  England,  having  a  good  opportunity,  he 
selected  from  the  best  herds  known  in  any  of  the 
counties,  some  of  the  most  famous,  and  imported 
them,  from  which  he  is  now  producing,  and  has 
already  produced  the  most  valuable  cattle  in  the 
United  States. 

I  knew  that  a  celebrated  farmer  at  Ashland,  Mr. 
Clay,  had  long  devoted  himself  to  this  branch  of 
business,  and  had  justly  become  famous  for  his  pro 
duction  ;  but  I  had  no  conception  that  I  should  find 
a  rival  to  him  in  this  respect  so  formidable  as  I  have 
in  the  farmer  at  Marshfield. 

He  has  a  yoke  of  red  or  bay  oxen  raised  on  this 
farm,  which  in  all  points  most  admired  by  good 
judges,  cannot  be  excelled,  and  especially  in  point  5f 
beauty.  I  saw  another  pair  of  black  oxen  grazing  in 
the  field,  which  in  point  of  size,  with  the  single  ex 
ception  of  the  one  owned  by  Mr.  Bust,  surpass  any 


THE    FARM.  7l 


thing  of  the  ox  kind  I  have  ever  seen.  His  full 
blooded  bulls  and  cows  and  young  cattle  are  all  fine 
specimens,  and  in  good  keeping  with  every  thing  elso 
here.  His  sheep,  too,  excited  my  highest  admiration. 
They  are  of  the  Leicester  breed,  selected  and  import 
ed  by  himself,  and  are  probably  the  finest  blood  and 
size  of  any  in  this  country.  One  of  them  pointed 
out  to  me  is  not  only  the  largest  I  ever  saw,  but  in 
several  other  respects  excels  all  the  ideas  I  ever  had 
of  sheep. 

The  shepherd  calls  this  one  Goliah,  and  has  taken 
from  it  one  fleece  which  weighed  sixteen  pounds. 
This  may  have  been  beaten ;  but  if  so,  the  fact  is 
not  known  to  an  individual  so  humble  as  myself. 
The  greatest  care  is  properly  bestowed  upon  these 
flocks  and  herds,  for  they  are  truly  objects  worthy 
the  ambition*  of  any  man,  however  exalted. 

In  going  from  one  pasture  to  another,  I  passed 
through  his  fields  of  corn,  of  which  he  has  raised  this 
year,  not  less  than  nine  hundred,  or  a  thousand 
bushels.  The  seed  selected  must  have  been  of  the 
most  valuable  kind.  I  begged  four  ears  of  it,  which 
I  intend  to  carry  away  with  me,  and  which  I  shall 
keep,  till  I  can  get  a  piece  of  land  on  which  to  plant 
it ;  and  then  I  will  call  it  the  "Webster  corn. 

I  passed  through  a  field  of  turnips,  in  which  I 
estimated  the  quantity  at  two  thousand  bushels.  A 
crop  of  this  kind  in  England,  Mr.  Webster  says,  is 
regarded  as  of  the  utmost  value,  not  only  for  the 
uses  to  which  it  is  put,  but  because  it  does  not  im 
poverish  the  soil  so  much  where  it  grows. 

Of  hay,  I  saw  from  three  to  five  hundred  tons. 


72  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTECl. 

and  oats,  and  potatoes,  and  other  crops,  in  equal  pro 
portions. 

After  going  the  rounds  of  the  farm,  which  I  have 
done  with  great  satisfaction,  it  appeared  to  me  that 
I  had  been  attending  an  agricultural  fair,  so  various, 
and  so  excellent,  were  the  specimens  I  had  seen.  I 
mention  these  matters  in  detail,  because  you,  like  my 
self,  may  not  have  been  acquainted  with  the  allure 
ments  which  have  drawn  Mr.  Webster  here,  and  of 
the  extent  of  the  operations  which  invite  his  attention 
as  a  farmer. 

I  have  not,  however,  intended  to  mention  any 
thing,  which  you  or  any  body  else  may  not  know,  or 
see,  at  any  time,  by  passing  along  the  avenues  which 
lead  through  Marshfield.  ***** 

I  hope  nothing  will  occur  to  hinder  our  going  to 
the  Plymouth  woods  to-morrow.  If  fortune  smiles, 
and  we  have  the  rare  sport  which  we  anticipate,  you 
will  hear  from  me  again. 

Yours  truly. 


RIDE   TO    PLYMOUTH ANECDOTES    ON    THE    WAY MR.    WEBSTER 

KILLS   A   DEER, 

PLYMOUTH  KOCK,  Oct.  7,  1842. 

At  an  early  hour  yesterday  morning,  we  break 
fasted  at  Marshfield,  and  then  set  out  for  this  place. 
Not  wishing  to  make  known  the  object  of  our  excur 
sion,  except  to  those  who  were  to  participate  in  our 
sport,  we  departed  quietly,  in  a  one-horse  wagon,  which 
contained  all  the  apparatus  required  for  our  recreation. 


RIDE    TO    PLYMOUTH.  7 3 

The  face  of  the  Old  Colony,  and  the  villages 
through  which  we  passed,  appeared  much  like  the 
route  that  I  described  from  Hingham  to  Marshfield. 
Some  of  the  farms  are  highly  cultivated,  but  others 
are  neglected  and  become  almost  barren.  A  farm, 
badly  tilled,  is  to  Mr.  W ebster,  as  it  is  to  every  good 

farmer,  a  forbidding  object. 

*#•*#*#*** 

In  this  old  Colony  there  is  a  vast  district,  nearly  twen 
ty  miles  square,  well  known  as  the  Plymouth  "Woods. 
Within  this  district  are  a  great  number  of  ponds, 
from  one  to  two  hundred,  and  some  of  them,  as  for 
instance  the  Billington  Sea,  are  quite  large.  Francis 
Billington,  one  of  the  pilgrims  in  the  Mayflower,  dis 
covered  this  from  the  top  of  a  tree  on  the  hill,  and  it 
now  bears  his  name.  It  is,  as  at  first,  embosomed  in 
a  wilderness.  The  eagle  still  soars  over  it.  and  builds 
in  the  branches  of  the  surrounding  forest.  Here  the 
loon  cries,  and  leaves  her  eggs  on  the  shore  of  the 
smaller  island.  Here,  too.  the  beautiful  wood-duck 
finds  a  sequestered  retreat,  and  the  fallow  deer,  mind 
ful  of  their  ancient  haunts,  still  resort  to  it  to  drink 
and  browse  on  its  margin.  They  run  in  these  woods, 
and  in  Wareham  and  Sandwich.  In  Januar}T,  1831, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  were  killed,  and  forty  taken 
alive.  In  February,  1839,  a  deer,  chased  by  the  dogs, 
ran  into  the  streets  of  the  village,  and  was  caught 
in  the  front  yard  of  Hon.  N.  M.  Davis's  house.  This 
is  the  favorite  resort  of  Mr.  Webster  when  he  desires 
to  relax  his  mind,  and  to  indulge  in  vigorous  exercises, 
and  nothing  is  more  exciting  than  the  incidents  of 
these,  his  annual  excursions. 

TOL.  IL  4 


74  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

Passing  by  the  outlet  to  Murdock's  Pond,  which 
is  about  half  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  Burial  Hill,  he 
was  reminded  of  the  story  of  John  G-oodman  and 
Peter  Brown,  who  in  pursuit  of  the  first  deer  of  which 
we  have  any  account  in  this  country,  lost  their  way 
and  came  near  losing  their  lives.  It  was  in  January, 
1621,  a  few  days  after  their  landing.  The  story  is 
told  as  follows :  "  Going  a  little  off  they  find  a  lake 
of  water,  and  having  a  great  mastiff  with  them  and 
a  spaniel,  by  the  water  side  they  found  a  great  deer. 
The  dogs  chased  him,  and  they  followed  so  far  as  to 
lose  themselves,  and  could  not  find  their  way  back. 
They  wandered  all  that  afternoon,  being  wet,  and  at 
night  it  did  freeze  and  snow.  They  were  slenderly 
apparelled,  and  had  no  weapons,  but  each  one  his 
sickle,  nor  any  victuals.  They  ranged  up  and  down, 
and  could  find  none  of  the  savages'  habitations.  When 
it  drew  towards  night  they  were  much  perplexed,  for 
they  could  find  neither  harbor  nor  meat ;  but,  in  frost 
and  snow,  were  forced  to  make  the  earth  their  bed, 
and  the  element  their  covering;  and  another  thing 
did  very  much  terrify  them ;  they  heard,  as  they 
thought,  two  lions  roaring  exceedingly  for  a  long  time 
together,  and  a  third  that  they  thought  was  very  near 
them.  So  not  knowing  what  to  do,  they  resolved  to 
climb  up  into  a  tree,  as  their  safest  refuge,  though 
that  would  prove  an  intolerable  cold  lodging.  So 
they  stood  at  the  tree's  root,  that  when  the  lions  came 
they  might  take  their  opportunity  of  climbing  up. 
But  it  pleased  God  so  to  dispose  that  the  beasts  came 
not." 

While  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  comfortable  lodg- 


RIDE    TO    PLYMOUTH.  75 

ings  we  had  last  night,  and  perhaps  on  the  very  spot 
where  the  Pilgrims  on  that  painful  night  were  shiver 
ing  with  fright  and  cold,  I  could  not  but  think  how 
much  more  fortunate  we  were  than  they.  Mr.  Web 
ster  told  another  anecdote,  which  shows  a  strong  con 
trast  between  the  fortunes  of  some  men  and  of  others. 
After  he  had  delivered  his  address  at  the  centennial 
celebration  on  the  22d  of  December,  1 820,  the  Pilgrim 
Society  sat  down  to  an  elegant  repast,  where  the  com 
pany  were  served  with  the  fat  of  the  land,  and  the  treas 
ures  of  the  sea.  But  to  call  to  mind  the  distresses  of 
their  forefathers  more  vividly  than  words  could  express 
them,  five  kernels  of  parched  corn  were  placed  on  each 
plate,  as  an  allusion  to  a  time  in  1623,  when  that  was 
the  proportion  allowed  to  each  individual,  on  account  of 
the  scarcity  of  their  provisions.  If  I  should  undertake 
to  relate  one-half  of  the  anecdotes  and  interesting  his 
torical  facts  on  which  Mr.  "Webster  is  more  than  elo 
quent,  being  as  he  is  on  the  hallowed  ground  where  they 
occurred,  I  should  write  a  volume,  instead  of  the  brief 
letter,  for  which  I  took  up  my  pen  ;  I  must  hasten  to 
the  incidents  of  our  sport. 

We  approached  with  our  horses  and  wagons  as 
near  as  circumstances  admitted,  to  the  sequestered 
dells,  and  secret  recesses  of  the  timid  deer,  from 
which 

"  He  bursts  the  thicket,  glances  through  glade, 
And  plunges  deep  in  the  wildest  woods." 

Our  first  care  was  to  secure  our  horses,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  insure  to  them  the  requisite  atten 
tion  during  our  absence.  This  done,  our  next 


76  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

business  was  to  equip  ourselves  for  a  tramp  on  foot. 
Waterproof  boots,  stout  cloth  pantaloons,  and  short 
coat  for  marching  through  the  woods,  climbing  the 
hills  or  fording  the  smaller  streams  which  constitute 
the  outlet  or  inlet  of  the  ponds,  were  just  the  articles 
required,  and  those  we  have.  Our  party  consists  of 
six,  each  one  of  whom  has  a  good  gun,  plenty  of 
powder  and  bullets,  and  buckshot,  and  all  the  little 
apparatus  for  convenience.  The  Pilgrims,  I  am  told, 
used  the  old-fashioned  matchlocks,  instead  of  the 
percussion  caps  with  which  we  are  provided.  Thus 
well  accoutred  we  set  forth  "to  hunt  in  couples." 
Mr.  Webster  and  myself  were  together.  The  dogs 
we  have  are  well  trained,  and  are  accustomed  to 
chase  in  these  woods.  My  dog  Cato,  which  occa 
sionally  performed  a  conspicuous  part  in  my  hunting 
excursions  last  autumn,  is  not  up  to  the  business  of 
following  bucks  and  does  in  these  parts,  and  is,  there 
fore,  compelled  to  follow  close  at  my  heels,  and  has 
performed  no  higher  office  than  bringing  to  the  shore 
a  duck  or  two,  which,  being  shot  on  the  wing,  fell  into 
the  water.  The  party  "  let  slip  the  dogs,"  and  then 
separated,  with  an  understanding  as  to  the  place 
where  they  should  meet,  and  as  to  certain  signals 
which  should  be  given  in  case  any  thing  remarkable 
should  happen.  Mr.  Webster  and  myself,  after 
making  our  way  for  some  distance  through  a  track 
less  thicket,  at  length  came  to  a  path  not  often  trod 
den,  but  following  it,  we  were  led  to  the  shore  of  a 
good- sized  pond  of  water,  which  in  England  or  Scot 
land  would  probably  be  called  a  lake,  and  long  since 
would  have  been  the  burden  of  some  immortal  song. 


RIDE    TO    PLYMOUTH. 


77 


On  a  sunny  side  of  a  small  hillock,  which  rose  gradu 
ally  from  the  shore  of  this  pond,  we  made  a  stand,  to 
await  the  approach  of  the  deer,  and  to  watch  the 
result  of  the  chase,  into  which  the  dogs  had  now  en 
tered  with  hearty  good  will ;  believing  that  the  very 
path  which  led  us  there,  would  be  the  one  the  game 
would  pursue,  if  found  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
routed  by  the  dogs ;  in  which  respect  we  were  not 
mistaken.  We  sat  down  on  a  rock,  for  a  rapid  walk 
of  considerable  distance,  carrying  our  rifles,  had  made 
a  moment's  rest  agreeable  to  our  legs.  * 

The  time  drew  near  to  four  o'clock,  and  the  dogs 
had  gone  around  a  large  circle.  Of  course,  we  were 
wide  awake,  and  on  the  sharp  look-out.  The  sen 
sations  I  felt  were  those  that  excited  me  when  I  shot 
the  deer  running  in  the  centre  of  the  Delaware  river, 
of  which  I  gave  you  an  account.  But  Mr.  Webster 
was  as  cool  and  as  self-possessed  as  when  he  rose  to 
reply  to  Senator  Hayne.  of  South  Carolina.  He 
stood  erect,  where  he  had  a  full  view  of  the  path  that 
lay  before  him,  along  the  foot  of  the  hill,  at  the 
water's  edge,  for  nearly  a  hundred  rods — with  his 
eyes  piercing  the  thicket  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
first  motion  of  a  twig.  He  held  his  rifle  across  his 
breast,  ready  to  take  fatal  aim.  I  stood  partly  be 
hind,  ready  to  fire,  if  there  should  be  any  object  to 
shoot  at,  or  if  there  should  be  any  occasion  for  it, 
after  he  had  done  his  part.  The  dogs  were  rapidly 
approaching.  Expectation  was  on  tip-toe.  At  this 
moment,  and  at  the  distance  of  some  eighty  or  a 
hundred  rods  from  us,  partly  across  the  circle  of  the 
shore,  and  just  at  the  water's  edge,  he  saw  a  deer,  and 


78  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

then  another,  and  then  another.  His  ejaculations 
instantly  directed  my  attention  to  the  spot.  Two  of 
them  dashed  into  the  water,  and  plunged  in  their 
noses  to  drink ;  but  the  animals  being  routed  by  the 
hounds,  and  of  course  frantic  with  fear,  they  had  no 
inclination  to  stand  still.  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

A  fine  buck  led  the  van,  gallantly  throwing  back 
his  antlers,  as  if  he  said,  "  Overtake  me  if  you  can." 
But  when  he  approached  within  about  thirty  rods,  he 
met  something  whose  speed  exceeded  the  speed  of  his 
pursuers.  Mr.  Webster,  with  his  usual  unerring  aim, 
had  lodged  in  his  vitals  a  fatal  bullet,  and  the  stag 
lay  bleeding  on  the  path,  unconscious  of  what  had 
struck  him.  The  smoke  and  report  of  the  gun  chang 
ed  the  direction  of  the  other  deer,  and  away  they 
went,  "  over  the  hills  and  far  away."  I  fired  upon 
them,  but  without  effect.  The  dogs  came  "  in  at  the 
death,"  in  handsome  style,  and  no  man  could  enjoy  a 
triumph  with  more  satisfaction,  and  with  more  en 
thusiastic  feeling,  than  we  did  our  success  on  this 
occasion.  Say  what  you  will  of  stoicism,  philosophy, 
of  dignity,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  I  can  tell  you 
there  is  no  man,  however  exalted,  who  will  not  some 
times  unbend  himself,  and  feel  and  act  as  though  he 
was  yet  in  his  youth.  Nor  is  this  wrong ;  and  I  pity 
the  man  who  cannot  find  in  his  own  bosom  a  senti 
ment  which  will  occasionally  approve  of  such  an 
exuberant  feeling.  ********* 

Yours,  truly. 


VISIT    OF    GENERAL    BERTRAND.  79 


VISIT   OF   GENERAL    BERTRAND    TO    MR.    WEBSTER MR.    WEBSTER  S 

CONVERSATION    ON    AGRICULTURE. 

BOSTON,  Nov.  22, 1343. 

On  Saturday  morning,  General  Bertrand  took 
breakfast  with  Mrs.  Webster,  by  invitation,  at  her 
lodging  at  the  Tremont  House.  Mr.  Webster  him 
self,  who  was  absent  the  previous  day,  happily  re 
turned  in  time  to  be  present.  Mrs.  Appleton,  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Fletcher  Webster,  his  daughter-in-law, 
and  Mrs.  Page,  his  sister-in-law,  were  there.  Al 
though  the  number  present  was  not  large,  yet  it  was 
not  strictly  private,  but  was  intended  as  one  of  the 
evidences  of  public  regard  so  generally  manifested. 

Among  the  guests  were  Mr.  Choate,  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  Mr.  Harrison 
Gray  Otis,  Mr.  Ticknor,  Mrs.  Gray,  Mr.  Lathrop 
Appleton.  Mr.  Codman,  Mr.  Grattan,  and  others  of 
great  respectability. 

At  1 0  o'clock,  General  Bertrand,  accompanied  by 
his  secretary,  was  announced,  and  after  presenting 
himself  in  the  most  courteous  manner  to  Mrs.  Web 
ster,  was  introduced  to  the  great  man  himself,  to  see 
whom  was  the  great  object  of  his  visit  here.  I  was 
pleased  with  the  interview  between  these  two  distin 
guished  persons.  The  self  possession  and  dignity  of 
Mr.  Webster  were  conspicuous  here  as  well  as  every 
where  else,  but  the  kind  manner  in  which  he  received 
his  guest,  and  the  appropriate  words  which  he  ad 
dressed  to  him,  not  only  relieved  him  from  all  em 
barrassment,  but  went  home  to  the  heart  of  the  faith 
ful  old  general,  and  made  him  feel,  as  I  have  since 


80  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

had  reason  to  know  he  did  feel,  that  great  as  were 
his  expectations,  Mr.  Webster  did  not  fall  below 
the  estimation  which  he  had  formed  before  he  saw 
him. 

The  general  was  presented  to  each  of  the  ladies 
and  the  other  guests  respectively,  and  entered  into 
conversation  with  them  upon  a  variety  of  topics,  which 
was  cheerful,  and  was  kept  up  until  breakfast  was 
announced.  The  table  was  spread  with  an  American 
breakfast ;  not  French,  not  English,  but  good  New 
England.  I  need  not  add  that  every  body  present 
was  made  happy,  for  all  this  will  be  taken  for 
granted. 

There  is  no  entertainment  which  is  estimated 
higher  than  a  complimentary  breakfast.  There  is 
necessarily  so  little  ceremony ;  it  comes  before  the 
cares  and  business  of  the  day  have  knit  the  brows, 
perplexed  the  minds,  or  disturbed  the  tempers  of  the 
guests  ;  the  conversation,  especially  of  men  like  those 
present  upon  this  occasion,  is  always  particularly 
brilliant  and  sparkling  with  well-timed  repartees.  I 
remember  with  the  greatest  pleasure  the  breakfast 
which  Mrs.  Webster  gave  to  Lord  Morpeth,  and  also 
the  one  to  Lord  Ashburton,  at  Washington.  They 
were  so  unlike  a  formal  dinner,  where  the  guests,  no 
matter  how  well-bred,  always  feel,  or  appear  to  feel, 
the  cumbrous  weight  of  the  ceremonies  which  eti 
quette  requires.  Mr.  Otis,  it  seems — on  account  of 
the  illness  with  which  he  is  afflicted — had  the  evening 
before,  in  a  note  to  Mrs.  Webster,  expressed  a  doubt 
whether  he  should  be  able  to  take  his  breakfast  with 
her;  but  the  bright  morning  sun  induced  him  to 


VISIT    OF    GENERAL    BERTRAND.  81 

ooine  out,  and  he  was  presented  to  the  General  at 
table.  He  speaks  French  fluently,  and  is,  without 
exception,  the  most  finished  gentleman  in  this  country, 
so  that  nothing  could  be  more  pleasing  than  the  in 
terview  between  these  "  fine  old  gentlemen."  Their 
salutations,  the  affectionate  manner  in  which  they  in 
quired  after  each  other's  health,  the  mutual  congra 
tulations,  all  indicated  the  circles  in  which  they 
moved. 

Some  of  the  guests  had  seen  the  Emperor  Napo 
leon,  when  his  star  and  eagles  were  in  the  ascendant, 
and,  of  course,  had  seen  some  of  the  occasions  on 
which  the  General  had  been  conspicuous, — there  was, 
therefore,  no  want  of  topics  of  conversation  to  interest 
him.  He  appeared  also  to  fancy  Mr.  Ticknor,  and 
to  be  deeply  interested  in  the  conversation  which  he 
had  with  that  gentleman,  so  justly  distinguished,  as 
he  is,  for  his  intelligence  and  learning. 

I  question  whether  among  all  the  entertainments 
the  General  has  had  in  this  country,  ostentatious  or 
unostentatious,  any  has  been  more  gratifying  to  his 
feelings  than  this  ;  at  least  I  have  his  own  testimony 
that  none  has  pleased  him  more.  By  12  o'clock,  the 
hour  in  which  the  business  and  pleasures  of  the  day 
begin  here,  at  this  season,  the  guests  had  made  their 
parting  "  adieux,"  and  had  separated. 

I  must  not  omit  to  tell  you  an  anecdote,  which 
was  related  to  me  by  a  lady  at  the  breakfast,  and 
which  shows  the  care  and  kindness  of  the  General  in 
making  people  happy  whenever  an  opportunity  is  pre 
sented.  At  a  party  given  by  the  British  Consul  on 
the  previous  evening,  Bertrand  was  a  guest,  Madame 
VOL.  ir.  4* 


82  MEMORIALS  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER, 

Cinti  Damoreau,  Monsieur  Artot,  and  others  distin* 
guished  in  the  musical  world,  were  also  there.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  evening  one  of  the  many  beau 
tiful  young  ladies  present  was  induced  to  sing  and 
play  on  the  piano,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of 
persons  so  celebrated. 

Her  music  was  sweet,  and,  of  course,  was  much 
admired.  But  soon  the  "  Italian  Aria"  of  Cinti  Da- 
moreau,  and  the  "  Tremole  Caprice"  of  Artot,  and 
the  "  Duo  Concertante"  of  both,  had  absorbed  the 
attention  of  the  party,  and  the  sweet  and  unpretend 
ing  notes  of  the  young  lady  who  had  ventured  to  pre 
cede  them,  were  for  a  moment  forgotten.  Seeing 
this,  the  gallant  Bertrand  asked  to  be  especially  in 
troduced  to  her,  which  was  done,  and  then  he  ad 
dressed  to  her  the  most  appropriate  commendations 
on  her  performance,  and  in  the  most  admirable  man 
lier  contrived  to  do  away  entirely  the  effect  of  any 
contrast  which  appeared  to  have  been  made  between 
her  music  and  that  of  those  who  followed. 

Attentions  of  this  nature  speak  volumes,  and  in 
some  way  take  a  deep  hold  of  my  feelings,  and  I 
thought  the  anecdote  would  interest  you,  knowing 
you  would  make  no  improper  use  of  it.  If  I  write 
any  thing  to  you  which  ought  not  to  be  published,  I 
leave  it  to  your  better  experience  to  strike  out. 

This  Boston  is  a  great  place.  I  have  now  been 
here  about  a  week,  and  have  not  taken  any  meals  at 
home  but  once.  The  hospitality  of  the  citizens  of 
Boston  is  unbounded. 

Yours,  truly. 


SECOND    VISIT    TO    MARSHFIELD.  83 

SECOND  VISIT  TO  MARSHFIELD — MR.  WEBSTER  TALKS  OF  AGRICUL 
TURE. 

MARSHFIELD,  Nov.  27,  1843. 

Leaving  Boston  I  came  through  the  town  of 
Quincy,  the  residence  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and 
the  township  of  Weymouth,  in  which  are  several  vil 
lages,  all  more  or  less  engaged  in  the  shoemaking 
business.  This  route  is  different  from  the  one  taken 
by  me  last  year.  Proceeding  along  the  Plymouth 
road,  through  Scituate  and  Hanover,  I  arrived  at  the 
little  town  of  Pembroke,  and  here  the  road  to  this 
place  turns  directly  into  a  wilderness  of  pines.  This 
pine  tract  seems  to  extend  eight  or  ten  miles  north 
and  south,  and  its  eastern  limit  is  within  two  miles 
of  the  sea,  and  of  Mr.  Webster's  house.  It  may  be 
worthy  of  remark,  that  directly  on  the  sea-shore,  the 
land  is  stony,  rock,  and  bearing  hard  wood,  while  be 
hind  it  a  large  tract  of  pine  land,  cleared  or  un 
cleared,  stretches  away  to  Plymouth  road. 

Over  this  district  of  country  I  passed  rapidly, 
following  the  windings  of  the  road  to  the  home  of 
the  farmer  of  Marshfield.  As  I  approached  this  hos 
pitable  mansion,  in  the  avenue  leading  to  the  house, 
I  met  Mr.  Webster,  rejoicing  in  his  temporary  free 
dom  from  the  severe  labors  of  the  legal  profession  to 
which  he  had  been  devoting  himself  nights  and  days, 
since  he  retired  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State. 

He  informed  me  of  the  absence  of  his  son.  "  But, 
sir,"  said  he,  "  I  know  he  will  be  glad  to  see  you,  and 
you  must  stay  till  Edward  comes  home." 


84  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER, 

He  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome  to  his  house,  and 
to  whatever  he  had,  that  could  amuse,  or  would  in 
terest  me  in  any  manner.  His  kindness,  as  on  all 
former  occasions,  soon  made  me  feel  perfectly  at 
home.  I  had  arrived  just  in  time  for  dinner. 

A  dish  of  chowder,  such  as  is  eaten  nowhere  else 
on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  corned  beef,  cured  as 
every  farmer  should  know  how  to  cure  it,  with  Marsh- 
field  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables,  constituted  our 
well-relished  repast. 

When  at  home  and  on  his  farm,  there  is  no  topic 
on  which  Mr.  Webster  delights  to  dwell  so  much  as 
agriculture.  The  affairs  of  nations,  with  which  he  is 
so  familiar  ;  the  important  questions  which  fill  his 
mind  when  engaged  in  his  profession,  questions  on 
the  decision  of  which  millions  depend,  are  all  appa 
rently  left  behind  when  he  crosses  the  line  which  sep 
arates  his  plantation  from  his  neighbors. 

Our  conversation  at  dinner,  therefore,  was  prin 
cipally  on  agriculture.  He  spoke  of  the  pleasure  he 
enjoyed  in  its  pursuit,  and  of  his  public  speeches  and 
efforts  he  had  made  to  commend  it  to  the  favor  of 
his  countrymen.  He  said  he  regarded  that  as  the 
leading  interest  of  society  ;  and  as  having  in  all  its 
relations  the  most  direct  and  intimate  bearing  upon 
human  comfort  and  the  national  prosperity,  of  any 
to  which  men  give  their  attention.  "  Agriculture,"  he 
said,  "  feeds  us  ;  to  a  great  degree  it  clothes  us ; 
without  it  we  could  not  have  manufactures,  and  we 
should  not  have  commerce.  These  all  stand  toge 
ther,  but  they  stand  like  pillars  in  a  cluster,  the  lar 
gest  in  the  centre,  and  that  largest  is  agriculture." 


HE    TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE.  85 


Although  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  the  public 
services  which  the  partiality  of  his  fellow-citizens  had 
required  him  to  perform,  had  necessarily  occupied 
much  of  his  time,  he  had  been  familiar  with  the  ope 
rations  of  agriculture  in  his  youth,  for  he  was  a 
farmer's  son,  and  he  had  always  looked  upon  the 
subject  with  a  lively  and  deep  interest,  both  in  pub 
lic  and  private  life.  There  is,  said  he,  no  subject 
which  opens  a  wider  field  for  study,  nor  is  there  one 
more  congenial  to  my  feelings.  I  delight  to  talk  to 
my  neighbors  about  farming,  and  I  love  to  vie  with 
them  about  cultivating  my  fields,  and  in  making  my 
farm  as  productive  as  theirs." 

His  visit  to  Europe  in  1839  had  given  him  a  fa 
vorable  opportunity  of  seeing  the  improved  hus 
bandry  of  England,  and  he  derived  what  benefit  from 
it  he  could  ;  for,  said  he,  the  great  objects  of  agri 
culture  and  the  great  agricultural  products  of  Old 
England  and  New  England  are  the  same. 

Neither  country  produces  olives,  rice,  or  cotton, 
or  sugar-cane  ;  but  bread,  meat,  and  clothing  are  the 
main  productions  of  both,  and  knowing  that  the  ex 
ample  of  England  might  safely  be  followed,  as  far  as 
the  circumstances  of  the  one  country  corresponded 
with  those  of  the  other,  he  had  adopted  and  carried 
into  practice  many  modes  of  culture  on  his  farm  here, 
and  in  New  Hampshire,  which  he  had  seen  success 
fully  adopted  while  he  was  abroad.  He  spoke  with 
much  animation  of  the  efforts  made  by  farmers 
throughout  this  whole  country,  to  improve  their  con 
dition.  We  ought  to  be,  he  said,  in  this  respect,  the 
first  nation  in  the  world.  England  is  regarded  as  a 


86  MEMORIALS    OF    DATCIEL    WEBSTER. 

prodigy  of  agricultural  wealth.  Flanders  might  sur 
pass  it ;  he  had  not  seen  Flanders  ;  England  surpass 
ed  any  country  he  had  seen.  But  he  hoped  the  day 
would  soon  come,  when  this  country  would  bear  off 
the  palm.  Let  us  remember,  he  said,  that  this  is  a 
country  of  small  farms,  and  freehold  tenements ;  in 
which  men  cultivate  with  their  own  hands,  their  own  fee 
simple  acres,  drawing  not  only  their  subsistence,  but 
also  their  spirit  of  independence  and  manly  freedom 
from  the  ground  they  plough.  They  are  at  once  its 
owners,  its  cultivators,  and  its  defenders ;  he  hoped 
the  cultivation  of  the  earth  would  never  cease  to  be 
regarded  as  the  most  important  labor  of  man. 

Walking  out  after  dinner,  I  was  struck  with  the 
thrifty  growth  of  several  little  forests  of  oak,  maple, 
and  walnut,  especially  on  that  part  of  the  estate  which 
originally  belonged  to  the  Winslow  family.  *  * 

Upon  my  making  inquiries  concerning  these  for 
ests,  Mr.  Webster  told  me  that  they  had  been  period 
ically  cut  down,  and  that  this  had  happened  once 
since  the  death  of  the  last  Winslow  proprietor.  It 
has  been  thought  profitable,  he  said,  to  take  off  the 
wood  once  in  about  eighteen  years,  not  selecting  the 
larger  trees,  but  clearing  the  whole  over  a  given  extent. 
New  shrubs  immediately  spring  up  and  cover  the 
nakedness  of  the  land,  growing  sometimes  as  much  as 
seven  or  eight  feet  in  a  single  year.  This  practice, 
he  said,  prevailed  over  most  of  the  great  tracts  of 
woodland  in  the  County  of  Plymouth.  It  was  found 
to  be  the  best  use  that  the  land  could  be  put  to.  Its 
price  in  various  parts  of  the  country  ranges  from  two 
to  five  dollars  an  acre.  In  some  cases,  large  tracts 


HE    TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE.  87 

are  held  by  single  individuals.  The  late  Barnabas 
Hedge,  of  Plymouth,  he  said,  could  travel  ten  or 
twelve  miles  through  such  woodlands,  without  going 
off  his  own  soil.  But  the  great  danger  to  such  pro 
perty,  Mr.  Webster  observed,  was  from  fire.  Hardly 
a  year  passed  without  much  destruction  by  this  ele 
ment,  in  the  woods  of  Sandwich,  Barnstable,  Ware- 
ham,  Plymouth,  &c.  The  wood  cut  from  these  for 
ests  is  valuable,  and  commands  a  high  price ;  as  it  is 
hard,  sound,  round,  and  of  convenient  size. 

Can  you  not  now  see,  in  imagination,  one  of  these 
hickory  fires,  on  a  cold,  frosty  morning,  or  on  a  chilly 
autumn  evening— such  a  one  as  now  burns  brightly 
on  the  hearth  before  me !  I  think  it  requires  no 
great  stretch.  Mr.  Webster  said  it  was  now  fourteen 
or  fifteen  years  since  any  wood  had  been  cut  on  this 
farm,  except  for  the  use  of  the  family.  In  some  of 
the  lower  grounds,  the  trees  have  been  suffered  to 
grow  longer,  and  the  thickets  to  remain  undisturbed. 
I  noticed  maples  and  oaks,  some  of  them  quite  tall, 
and  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter.  To  these  circum 
stances,  no  doubt,  it  is  owing  that  the  deer  still  re 
main  tolerably  numerous  in  the  township  of  Ply 
mouth.  I  gave  an  account  of  these  deer  in  my  let 
ters  to  you  last  year.  They  delight,  said  Mr.  Web 
ster,  to  feed  on  the  leaves  and  sprouts  of  young  thrifty 
trees.  The  laws  of  Massachusetts  properly  re 
strain  the  killing  of  these  animals  in  certain  seasons 
of  the  year;  but  there  are  still  wretches,  said  Mr. 
Webster,  who  will  steal  into  the  woods  in  the  middle 
of  winter,  find  the  deer  in  the  deep  snows,  and  kill 
them  merely  for  the  sake  of  their  skins,  which  would 


88  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

not  bring  more  than,  perhaps,  a  dollar  apiece.  Of 
these  woods,  Mr.  Webster  lias  about  two  hundred 
acres,  from  which  cattle  and  sheep  are  carefully  ex 
cluded,  and  which,  if  fenced  as  in  England,  and  in 
some  places  in  this  country,  would  make  an  elegant 
deer  park. 

The  sun  went  down  upon  us,  while  we  were  ram 
bling  and  conversing  upon  these  and  kindred  topics  ; 
we  returned  home  to  enjoy,  and  have  enjoyed,  the 
comforts  of  a  quiet  evening  around  a  farmer's  fire. 

Yours  truly. 


PLANTING  TREES. 


MARSHFIELD,  Nov.  28th,  1843. 

I  needed  no  cradle  to  rock  me  to  sleep  last  night, 
after  my  long  walk  of  yesterday.  After  breakfast 
this  morning,  I  was  out  again  with  Mr.  Webster,  who 
was  giving  his  attention  to  several  matters  concerning 
his  farm.  Seeing  the  interest  I  manifested  yesterday 
on  the  subject  of  the  forest,  which  is  periodically  cut 
down  for  wood,  and  suffered  to  grow  up  again,  he 
was  kind  enough  to  show  me  vast  numbers  of  trees, 
probably  one  hundred  thousand,  which  he  has  planted 
from  the  seed,  with  his  own  hands.  They  are,  how 
ever,  yet  small.  He  said,  his  way  had  been  to  sow 
the  seed,  in  favorable  places,  of  the  locust,  horse- 
chestnut,  catalpa,  &c.,  some  of  which  have  been 
transplanted  at  an  early  age,  and  others  left  to  grow 
up  in  thickets.  A  little  belt  of  wood  thus  produced, 
none  of  the  trees  of  which  have  been  planted  more 
than  a  dozen  or  thirteen  years,  bounding  the  lawn 


PLANTING    TREES.  89 


and  pond  on  one  side,  is  already  so  high  and  dense  as 
to  afford  a  perfectly  shaded  walk  through  the  centre 
of  it,  not  only  making  a  beautiful  promenade,  but 
filling  up  the  background  of  the  landscape,  of  which 
the  lawn  and  pond  constitute  prominent  features. 

Mr.  Webster  spoke  in  warm  terms — terms  al 
most  of  indignation — of  the  stupidity  of  persons  who 
omit  to  plant  trees,  from  an  idea  that  they  may  not 
live  to  see  their  growth  and  beauty,  or  to  taste  their 
fruits.  He  reminded  me  of  Walter  Scott's  good 
advice  on  this  subject.  He  would  plant  a  tree  which 
would  be  growing  while  others  were  sleeping. 

He  spoke  of  the  just  and  excellent  taste  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  on  all  subjects  of  this  kind,  and  re 
ferred  to  two  articles  written  for  the  London  Quar 
terly  Review,  some  years  ago,  on  planting  trees,  land 
scape,  &c.,  as  being  full  of  instruction.  Where  is 
the  man,  said  Mr.  Webster,  who  does  not  admire  the 
principle  which  actuated  the  late  Stephen  Girard,  of 
Philadelphia,  who,  when  bending  over  the  grave  with 
age,  said  he  would  plant  a  tree  to-day  if  he  knew  he 
were  to  die  to-morrow.  If  every  man  were  actuated 
by  such  sentiments,  what  a  change  it  would  produce 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

He  showed  me  eight  or  nine  specimens  of  oak ; 
several  of  them  he  had  obtained  from  the  Southern 
States ;  all  the  varieties  of  pines  and  cedars,  and  the 
arbor  vitee,  from  Maine,  various  sorts  of  ash,  maple 
and  the  buckeye,  from  Ohio,  and  the  sweet  gum  from 
Virginia. 

For  these  last  two,  however,  the  climate  was  found 
somewhat  too  severe.  The  whitewood,  as  we  call  it, 


90  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

in  New- York  and  Ohio — properly  the  liriodendron 
or  tulip  tree — appears  to  grow  well.  Hedges  of 
buckthorn  line  the  avenue  to  the  house,  stand  the 
climate  well,  and  are  very  handsome. 

In  a  few  years  these  trees,  according  to  my  pre 
diction,  will  be  the  admiration  of  everybody,  and 
branches  of  them  will  be  cut  and  carried  away  by 
future  generations,  who  will  know  the  biography  of 
the  great  man  of  our  time,  as  branches  are  now  cut 
and  carried  away  from  the  trees  which  grow  on  the 
plantations  of  other  sages,  whose  pillars  are  in  the 
dust.  The  handsome  wooden  eminence,  near  the 
house,  is  now  beautifully  covered  with  a  thicket  of 
locust,  catalpas,  young  cherry  trees,  &c.  This  little 
hill,  twelve  years  ago,  was  perfectly  naked,  and  the 
sand  was  blown  about  by  the  wind.  A  lady,  visiting 
Mrs.  Webster,  begged  that  so  unsightly  an  object 
might  be  made  to  mend  its  appearance.  Her  advice 
was  followed,  and  six  years  afterwards,  visiting  Marsh- 
field  again,  she  clapped  her  hands  with  admiration  at 
the  success  of  what  she  had  recommended. 

Mr.  Webster  spoke  of  his  unsuccessful  attempts 
to  raise  the  live  oak,  and  this  led  to  a  conversation  on 
climate  which  occupied  the  remainder  of  our  morning 
ramble  ;  but  of  which  I  shall  try  to  remember  and 
speak  hereafter. 

I  believe  in  my  letters  of  last  year.  I  gave  you 
some  account  of  the  general  appearance  of  the  farm 
and  of  the  neighboring  country.  I  do  not  intend  to 
repeat  what  I  said  then,  but  an  occurrence  induces  me 
to  return  to  that  topic  once  more.  N.  S.,  Esq.,  a 
gentleman  of  Cincinnati,  an  old  friend  and  townsman 


PLANTING    TREES.  91 


of  Mr.  Webster,  made  him  a  long  visit  last  Septem 
ber.     I  fell  in  with  him  on  his  return,  and  he  spoke 
to  me  with  admiration  of  what  he  had  seen.    He  said 
they  had  an  idea  in  the  West,  that  Mr.  Webster  had 
a  place  on  the  sea-shore,  and  as  he  always  spoke  of  it 
himself  as  "  a  poor  farm,"  they  thought  it  to  be  that 
and  nothing  more.     They  thought  it  a  place  of  no 
product,  but  a  spot  from  which  he  might  go  forth 
to  catch  a  fish  or  shoot  a  bird.     And  I  may  here  re 
mark,  that  such  is,  or  has  been,  the  general  impres 
sion  throughout  the  country.     In  his  great  speech  at 
Rochester,  you  know  he  said  himself:  u  Why  gen- 
men,  I  live  on  the  sandy  sea-shore  of  Massachusetts, 
and  get  along  as  well  as  I  can.     I  am  a  poor  farmer, 
upon  a  great  quantity  of  poor  land  ;  but  my  neighbors 
and  I,  by  very  great  care, — I  hardly  know  how, — 
contrive  to  live  on."     Mr.  Webster  gave  me  notes  of 
his  speech,  and  referred  to  his  printed  speech.     But 
Mr.  N.  S.  said  he  was  himself  a  grazier  on   a  large 
scale,  that  he  pastured  five  thousand  acres  of  land  in 
the  heart  of  Ohio,  and  that  he  had  seen  in  Marshfield 
as  thrifty  cattle  as  he  had  at  home,  and  as  rich  herb 
age  (the  consequences  of  fish  manure)  as  any  he  could 
furnish  for  his  own  stock ;  and  he  added  with  anima 
tion,  that  the  whole  view  reminded  him  strongly  of  a 
prairie  country — not  indeed  in  the  depth  and  richness 
of  the  soil,  but  in  the  gentle  risings  and  undulations 
of  the  surface,  the  rankness  of  the  grass,  and   espe 
cially  the  melting  away  of  the  horizon  upon  the  sea 
shore,  as  one  sees  it  sink  in  the  western  country  on 
boundless  plains.     Whoever  has  seen  it  set  on  the 


92  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

western  lakes,  can  appreciate  the  idea  which  I  wish 
to  convey. 

It  is  all  very  true  that  Mr.  Webster  can  go  forth 
from  this  place  "  to  catch  a  fish,  or  shoot  a  bird."  and  the 
opportunities  for  both,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  know 
are  second  to  those  of  no  other ;  but  let  it  be  under 
stood,  that  these  are  not  the  only  objects  for  which 
he  seeks  this  retirement.  And  it  is  equally  true  that 
he  has  a  sandy  soil,  and  that  time  and  neglect  had 
done  their  utmost  to  make  it  a  poor  farm  before  he 
came  here;  but  by  the  application  of  science,  by 
studying  the  nature  of  the  soil,  by  bestowing  continu 
ed  attention  upon  the  subject  for  ten  or  twelve  years, 
keeping  pace  with  all  improvements,  he  has  restored 
parts  of  his  farm  to  their  wonted  vigor ;  and  the  re 
sult  is.  that  I  see  some  fields  capable  of  vying  with  the 
richest  of  the  Genessce  flats.  If  you  wait  till  Mr. 
Webster  tells  you  he  has  a  good  farm, — and  is  in  fact, 
by  the  force  of  example,  doing  more  for  the  benefit  of 
agriculture,  than  all  the  preachers  on  that  subject  in  the 
United  States, — you  will  wait  till  the  crack  of  doom. 

After  dinner  to-day  we  went  into  the  building  Mr. 
Webster  has  erected  in  his  garden,  and  has  filled  with 
books  on  this  subject.  There  the  conversation  turned 
on  the  state  of  agriculture  in  England  fifty  years 
ago,  as  compared  to  what  it  is  now.  Then,  said  Mr. 
Webster,  and  he  referred  to  the  chapter  and  verse  to 
show  it,  the  practice  of  this  art  was  comparatively 
cumbrous,  costly  and  unproductive.  It  had  not  be 
come  an  object  of  inquiry  to  men  of  liberal  minds  ; 
it  was  left  to  be  carried  on  by  the  common  farmer,  in 
a  mechanical  way,  according  to  the  unimproved  rou- 


PLANTING    TREES.  93 


tine  of  his  forefathers.  The  number  of  laboring  cat 
tle,  both  horses  and  oxen,  employed  on  a  farm,  was 
excessive ;  manure  was  very  carelessly  collected,  the 
green  crops  were  not  generally  hoed,  and  artificial 
grasses  were  not  generally  known.  The  management 
of  cattle  was  generally  so  bad,  that  Mr.  Young  con 
ceived  "  that  two  pounds  were  lost  upon  every  cow ; 
while  sheep  might  have  generally  yielded  a  greater 
profit  by  three-fourths,  and  the  management  of  swine 
was  perfectly  execrable."  In  the  general  economy 
of  the  country,  neglect  of  inclosure  prevailed ;  a 
large  extent  consisted  of  commons  covered  with 
miserable  herds  which  the  neighborhood  turned  out 
to  pasture ;  and  a  great  part  of  the  eastern  coast, 
consisting  of  fens  and  marshes,  was  unhealthy  and 
unfit  for  cultivation. 

Mr.  Webster  called  my  attention  to  the  observa 
tions  of  different  writers,  stated  where  he  agreed 
with  some  and  differed  from  others.  I  have  taken 
numerous  extracts  because  what  he  endorses  may  be 
relied  on  as  good  authority. 

Since  the  time  of  which  he  was  speaking  a  com 
plete  change  has  taken  place  in  all  these  respects. 
The  greatest  nobles  and  statesmen  have  vied  with 
each  other  in  their  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  agricul 
ture.  Prizes,  exhibitions,  and  other  institutions  cal 
culated  to  excite  a  spirit  of  improvement,  have  been 
established  on  a  great  scale.  Even  royal  patronage 
was  extended  to  this  most  useful  of  arts,  and  a  Board 
was  formed  under  public  auspices  for  its  promotion. 
An  extraordinary  impulse  was  also  given  by  the  scar 
city  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 


94  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

continental  ports  were  closed,  and  grain  rose  to  an 
unprecedented  price — from  which  it  has  since  been 
reduced,  but  not  to  its  former  rate.  The  old  routine 
system  was  after  that  crisis  broken  up,  and  every  ex 
ertion  made  to  augment  the  products  of  the  soil. 
Commons  were  inclosed,  marshes  were  drained,  grasses 
of  the  most  useful  species  cultivated,  and  every  pro 
cess  introduced  that  multiplied  experiments  had 
proved  to  be  advantageous. 

About  twenty  years  ago,  said  Mr.  Webster,  Sir 
Humphrey  Davy  undertook  to  treat  the  subject  of 
the  application  of  chemical  knowledge  to  agriculture 
in  England,  in  the  analysis  of  soils  and  manures,  and 
the  extraordinary  discoveries  and  advances  in  chemi 
cal  science,  since  his  time,  have  operated,  and  are 
likely  to  operate  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  agri 
culture,  not  only  in  England  but  throughout  the 
world.  *  *  *  * 

I  am  tired  with  walking,  talking  and  writing,  and 
now  my  word  for  it,  in  twenty  minutes  I  will  be  fast 
asleep. 

Yours  truly. 


HABIT    OF   EARLY    RISING MR.    WEBSTER    STILL    TALKS    OF   AGRiCUL 

TURE. 

MARSHFIELD,  Nov.  29,  1843. 

In  imitation  of  all  the  Sykeses,  I  like  the  indul 
gence  of  a  morning  nap.  My  father  slept  sound,  and 
my  mother  slept  long,  and  I  do  both.  When  I  came 
to  breakfast  I  found  that  Mr.  Webster  had  been  up 


HABIT    OF    EARLY    RISING.  95 

several  hours,  writing  by  candle  light  in  his  study. 
He  said  his  correspondence  and  other  writing  for  the 
day  were  finished,  and  that  he  was  quite  at  leisure, 
and  ready  to  accompany  me  anywhere. 

Mr.  Webster,  unlike  most  of  the  men  of  the  pres 
ent  day,  goes  early  to  bed,  and  sleeps  during  the  first 
part  of  the  night.  By  9  o'clock,  unless  the  presence 
of  company  or  some  pressing  engagement  has  induced 
him  to  remain  longer  in  the  parlor,  he  is  found  in  a 
sound  sleep.  But  he  rises  very  early  in  the  morning. 
I  have  heard  him  say  there  have  been  periods  while 
in  Washington,  when  he  has  shaved  and  dressed  him 
self  for  six  months  together  by  candle  light.  The 
morning  is  his  time  for  study,  writing,  thinking,  and 
all  kinds  of  mental  labor ;  from  the  time  when  the 
first  streak  of  dawn  is  seen  in  the  east,  till  9  or  1 0 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  scarcely  a  moment  is  lost ; 
and  it  is  then  that  the  mighty  results  which  distin 
guish  his  life  are  produced. 

I  have  often  heard  those  who  occasionally  call  on 
him,  as  early  as  10  in  the  morning,  and  find  him  ap 
parently  unoccupied,  ready  to  converse  with  them 
and  very  much  at  their  service,  wonder  when  Mr. 
Webster  does  his  work,  for  they  know  he  does  work, 
and  yet  they  rarely,  if  ever,  see  him.  like  other  busi 
ness  men,  engaged. 

The  truth  is,  that  when  their  day's  work  begins, 
his  ends  ;  and  while  they  are  indulging  in  their  "  glo 
rious  morning  nap,"  dozing  or  yawning,  he  is  up,  look 
ing  "quite  through  the  deeds  of  men."  This  habit, 
followed  from  his  youth,  has  enabled  him  to  make 
those  vast  acquisitions  of  knowledge  on  all  subjects, 


96  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

which  have  rendered  him  superior  to  other  men,  and 
has  at  the  same  time  afforded  him  so  much  leisure  to 
devote  to  his  friends. 

Mr.  Webster  regretted  this  morning  that  my 
friend  Edward  was  not  at  home,  but  he  offered  me 
Rachel,  a  favorite  setter  which  he  brought  from 
England,  and  the  services  of  an  attendant,  if  I  chose 
to  go  out  and  shoot  quails,  with  one  restriction  how 
ever,  that  several  broods  of  these  birds  had  been  rear 
ed  during  the  season  in  the  gardens  and  grounds  near 
the  house ;  that  those  belonged  to  the  family,  and 
were  not  to  be  destroyed.  But  my  thoughts  turned 
rather  upon  agriculture  than  shooting,  so  I  declined 
Rachel's  company  and  the  gun,  and  we  walked  out  in 
the  fields  together.  One  of  the  first  we  passed  was 
such  a  field,  I  presume,  as  had  attracted  the  notice  of 
Mr.  S.  from  Ohio.  It  had  been  an  old  dry  pasture 
which  the  plough  had  not  touched  for  forty  years ;  it 
usually  had  produced,  Mr.  Webster  said,  in  the  spring 
and  early  summer,  a  little  white  .honey-suckle  and 
other  sweet  grass  for  the  use  of  the  dairy,  but  by  mid 
summer  it  was  commonly  dry,  parched  and  brown ; 
now  it  was  covered  with  herbage,  green,  long,  fallen 
down,  and  absolutely  matted  from  thickness,  although 
it  had  been  the  pasture  for  half  a  dozen  cows.  This 
led  to  a  conversation  on  the  utility  of  manuring  land 
by  fish  when  circumstances  and  situations  allowed  it. 

Mr.  Webster  said  his  attention  had  first  been 
drawn  to  the  subject,  by  seeing  the  practice  in  Rhode 
Island.  He  had  subsequently  seen  prodigious  effects 
from  it,  on  some  parts  of  Long  Island,  especially 
about  Southampton.  He  had  seen  its  use  also  at 


STILL    TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE.  97 

Chatham,  and  other  places  on  the  extremities  of 
Cape  Cod.  He  observed,  that  whether  it  could  be 
obtained  or  used  for  a  reasonable  price,  depended, 
first  on  the  nearness  of  the  land  to  the  sea ;  second 
ly,  on  the  general  state  of  the  weather  during  the 
time  when  the  fish  usually  visit  the  coast.  These 
fish  are  a  species  of  herring  not  known  in  Europe, 
and  called  in  the  United  States  by  the  various  names 
of  moss-bunkers,  hard-heads,  bony  fish,  and  menhaden. 
In  the  Summer  they  migrate  North,  and  are  off  Marsh- 
field  sometimes  by  the  middle  of  June,  and  sometimes 
not  till  July.  When  the  weather  is  mild,  and  the 
sea  smooth,  they  come  close  to  the  shore,  or  into  the 
mouths  of  the  rivers  and  little  creeks,  and  sometimes, 
indeed,  they  appear  to  be  driven  almost  out  of  the 
water  by  the  sharks  and  porpoises,  which  follow  them 
in  from  the  sea.  They  are  taken,  he  said,  by  the 
seine,  in  the  common  way,  drawn  to  the  shore,  and 
hauled  off  immediately  to  their  destined  use. 

Until  this  year,  he  says,  he  has  only  used  these 
fish  by  spreading  them  directly  on  the  surface  of  the 
land,  and  as  he  does  not  hold  to  manuring  by  halves, 
the  quantity  is  not  spared.  Ten,  twelve,  or  fourteen 
cart  loads,  each  weighing  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven 
hundred,  are  allowed  to  the  acre.  There  has  been  a 
notion  prevailing  to  some  extent,  that  this  species  of 
manure  stimulates  the  land  too  much,  and  soon  ex 
hausts  it.  In  refutation  of  this  notion,  Mr.  Webster 
showed  me  a  field  which  was  thus  dressed  in  1834, 
and  which  has  yielded  an  abundant  crop  of  hay  every 
year  since.  This  year  twenty  acres  have  been  heavily 


98  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

fished,  and  the  fish  ploughed  immediately  in,  and  the 
land  is  destined  for  corn  next  season. 

A  great  mass  of  compost  is  also  made  by  mixing 
earth  or  common  loam  with  fish,  in  the  proportion  of 
about  four  loads  of  earth  to  one  of  the  fish,  and  put 
ting  in  lime  as  another  ingredient.  This  being  done 
ill  the  Summer,  the  whole  mass  is  dug  up  or  turned 
over,  and  mixed  anew  in  the  Autumn  or  Winter,  and 
in  the  ensuing  Spring  it  is  found  an  excellent  manure 
for  any  farming  purpose  whatever.  His  gardens, 
meadows,  pastures  and  ploughed  lands  all  bear  abun 
dant  proof  of  the  utility  of  this  species  of  manure. 

On  my  way  down  here,  I  had  a  rather  diverting 
as  well  as  instructing  conversation  with  a  farmer 
whom  I  met  in  Pembroke,  and  I  may  as  well  men 
tion  it  here,  as  anywhere.  I  told  him  I  was  going  to 
Marshfield,  and  he  said  he  supposed  I  was  going  to 
see  Squire  Webster.  I  told  him  I  was  going  to  see 
Edward,  his  son.  "Well,"  said  he,  "you  will  of 
course  see  the  Squire's  farm."  I  told  him  quite 
likely.  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  you  will  see  something 
worth  seeing ;  but  I  did  not  know,  two  months  ago, 
but  that  he  would  drive  us  all  out  of  Pembroke. 
The  Squire  spreads  on  his  land,  in  the  summer,  about 
all  the  fish,  I  believe,  he  can  find  in  the  sea,  and  get 
out  of  it.  These  bred  a  pestilent  quantity  of  black 
flies,  not  our  common  house  flies,  but  black,  glossy 
fellows,  that  came  about  two  hundred  times  as  thick 
as  you  ever  saw  common  flies  about  a  plate  of  molasses. 
When  the  wind  is  east,  it  brings  them  here,  and  they 
remind  us  of  Scripture  times  and  the  plagues  of 


STILL    TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE.  99 

Egypt;    however,  they  don't   trouble  us   long;    for 
when  the  wind  changes,  they  make  off  for  Cape  Cod. 

a  I  go  down  to  see  Mr.  Webster's  place  very  often. 
I  worked  on  his  farm  this  year  some  time,  but  I  could 
never  get  there  before  the  Squire  was  up  and  stirring. 
The  Squire  not  only  uses  fish  on  his  farm,  but  has 
introduced,  also,  the  use  of  kelp  from  the  sea-shore. 
This  was  totally  neglected  till  he  set  the  example. 
While  at  Marshfield,  I  advise  you  to  look  at  the 
farms  of  Capt.  H.  and  Capt.  J.  S.,  two  of  Mr.  Web 
ster's  neighbors.  They  are  industrious  sea-captains, 
now  retired  to  their  farms ;  are  always  at  home,  and 
see  to  every  thing.  Congress  does  not  trouble  them, 
and  kelp  is  filling  up  their  barns  right  fast,  I  tell 
you,  and  no  mistake." 

Thus,  you  see,  the  example  of  Mr.  Webster  is 
followed  by  his  neighbors,  and  it  excites  them  to 
emulate  him,  greatly  to  their  advantage.  There  are 
but  few  farmers  in  the  United  States,  well  skilled 
and  greatly  experienced  as  they  are  justly  acknow 
ledged  to  be,  who  would  not  derive  great  advantage 
from  a  journey  to  Marshfield,  to  walk  over  this  plan 
tation,  and  hold  a  few  hours'  conversation  with  the 
great  farmer  himself. 

George  says  "dinner  is  ready."  Of  course  I 
shall  throw  down  the  pen. 

Yours  truly. 


100  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

MR.     WEBSTER     STILL   TALKS   ABOUT   AGRICULTITRE SAYS     SIR   ROB 
ERT    PEEL  IS    THE    GREATEST    MAN    HE   EVER    SAW. 

MARSHFIELD,  Nov.  29,  1843. 

In  my  letter  this  morning  I  gave  you  some  ac 
count  of  the  conversation  with  Mr.  Webster,  as  we 
were  passing  over  fields  manured  with  fish  5  for  it 
struck  me  as  being  a  subject  that  could  not  fail  to 
interest  you.  At  dinner  to-day  Mr.  Webster  con 
versed  on  another  subject  akin  to  that,  and  equally 
important.  It  was  the  rotation  of  crops,  or,  as  it  is 
called,  the  shift  system,  to  prevent  the  exhaustion  of 
the  land. 

I  remarked  to  him,  that  in  passing  over  the  farm 
this  morning,  I  did  not  find  in  any  field  the  same 
kind  of  crop  which  I  saw  in  it  last  year.  He  said 
that  was  very  true,  for  he  had  always  been  careful  to 
avoid  that  great  error.  "  A  good  farmer" — and  this 
is  the  definition  which  others  give  too,  said  he — "  looks 
not  only  to  the  present  year's  crop,  but  considers  what 
will  be  the  condition  of  his  land  when  this  crop  is 
taken  oft7,  and  what  it  will  be  fit  for  next  year.  He 
carefully  examines  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  the 
peculiarity  of  the  last  crop,  and  as  much  as  possible 
studies  to  use  his  land  so  as  not  to  abuse'it."  "  It  is 
my  aim,"  he  said,  "to  get  a  good  crop  every  year,  and 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  land  shall  be  growing 
better  and  better."  If  he  should  plant  the  same 
crop  continually,  the  soil  of  many  of  his  fields  would 
soon  be  exhausted,  or  if  he  contented  himself  with 
raising  a  large  crop  this  year,  and  then  should  leave 
the  field  neglected  to  recruit  itself  as  it  might,  he 


STILL    TALKS    ABOUT    AGRICULTURE.  101 

should  starve,  and  his  farm  would  soon  be  a  barren 
waste.  By  adopting  the  shift  system,  and  pursuing 
a  judicious  rotation  of  crops,  he  not  only  made  his 
farm  profitable  and  productive,  but  by  the  addition  of 
appropriate  manures  annually,  he  had  managed  to 
reclaim  a  great  part  of  it,  and  make  it  what  I  saw  5 
and  this  practice  he  intends  to  continue  until  it  is  all 
made  fertile.  "  It  is  upon  this  fundamental  idea  of 
constant  production  without  exhaustion,"  he  said, 
"  that  the  system  of  all  good  cultivation  is  founded. 
England  adopts  this  course,  and  England  was  taught 
by  Flanders  and  Italy." 

"  The  form  or  manner  of  this  rotation  of  crops  is 
determined  by  me,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  and  partly  by  the  demand  of  the  home  market." 
The  ordinary  rotation  under  which  lands  similar  to 
his  are  cultivated  in  England,  as  far  as  his  observa 
tion  had  extended,  and  as  laid  down  in  the  agricul 
tural  books,  is  either  on  what  is  denominated  the 
four-course  or  shift  system,  or  five-course  or  shift. 
The  four-course  was  :  1.  Turnips,  fed  off;  2.  Oats  or 
Barley ;  3.  Grass  Seed ;  4.  Wheat.  The  five-shift 
system  was:  1.  Turnips;  2.  Oats  or  Barley;  3. 
Clover ;  4.  Peas ;  5.  Wheat.  On  different  soils  the 
courses  were  varied.  Sometimes  this  system  was 
carried  to  nine  shifts,  the  largest  course  with  which 
he  was  acquainted.  He  referred  me  to  a  good  writer 
on  this  subject. 

He  said  he  divided  all  crops  into  two  classes,  and 
denominated  one  white,  the  other  green.  White 
crops,  such  as  wheat,  barley,  rye,  oats,  and  corn,  are 
not  to  follow  one  another.  But  this  was  not  the  rule 


102  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

with  green  crops,  such  as  turnips,  potatoes,  beets  and 
clover.  He  described  the  apparatus  for  analyzing 
the  soils,  and  the  mode  of  ascertaining  the  nature, 
the  properties  and  proportions  of  the  different  mate 
rials  of  which  they  are  composed,  with  as  much 
fluency  as  though  the  study  of  agricultural  chemistry 
had  been  the  pursuit  of  his  life.  He  said,  it  was  well 
for  me  to  know  that  the  chief  constituents  of  all  cul 
tivated  soils  were  four  kinds  of  earth,  and  these  were 
flint,  clay,  chalk,  and  carbonate  of  magnesia  decom 
posed.  "  These,"  said  he,  ''are  mixed  together  in  an 
endless  variety  of  proportions,  and  are  interspersed 
with  animal  and  vegetable  remains,  salts,  &c..  to  ail 
equally  varying  extent ;  and  it  is  to  ascertain  the 
presence  and  extent  of  these  substances,  that  the 
analysis  of  soils  is  so  necessary  and  so  valuable  to 
the  farmer.  Without  some  knowledge  and  practice 
on  this  subject,  a  farmer  proceeds  in  the  dark.  How 
can  he  tell  what  kind  of  manure  he  should  apply, 
without  knowing  what  is  wanted  ?"  "  The  object  of 
manuring,"  said  he,  "  is  to  give  strength  to  that  in 
gredient  in  the  soil  which  is  weak." 

After  dinner  we  put  on  our  overcoats  and  took  a 
stroll  across  the  fields  to  see  his  cattle,  the  products 
of  his  selections  and  importations  from  England  in 
1839.  But  I  shall  speak  of  them  hereafter.  In  our 
rambles  we  came  to  a  field  of  turnips,  where  he  has 
raised  this  year  more  than  two  thousand  bushels. 
"  Here,"  said  Mr.  Webster,  "  is  a  specimen  on  a  small 
scale,  of  the  green  crop  of  England.  I  say  on  a  small 
scale,  because  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  there 
are  fields  or  farms  of  five  or  six  hundred  acres  covered 


STILL    TALKS    ABOUT    AGRICULTURE.  103 

with  this  crop.  Its  cultivation  has,  within  the  last  fifty 
years,  revolutionized  English  agriculture.  Fifty  years 
ago,  when  lands  were  exhausted  by  the  repetition  of 
grain  crops,  they  were  left  fallow,  and  abandoned  to 
recruit  themselves.  This  occurred  as  often  as  every 
fourth  year,  so  that  it  was  the  same  as  though  one 
quarter  of  the  lands  capable  of  good  cultivation 
yielded  nothing.  But  turnips  were  now  substituted 
in  the  place  of  these  naked  fallows,  and  were  gener 
ally  fed  off  on  the  land  where  they  grew."  "  It  is," 
said  he,  "a  biennial  plant;  does  not  perfect  its  seed 
before  it  is  consumed,  and  does  not  materially  ex 
haust  the  soil ;  for  exhaustion  of  the  land,  as  expe 
rience  and  observation  have  fully  demonstrated,  takes 
place  mainly  when  the  seeds  of  the  plants  are  allow 
ed  to  perfect  themselves.  Besides,  plants  derive  a 
large  portion  of  their  nutriment  from  the  air  ;  now 
the  leaves  of  turnips,  which  are  their  lungs,  expose  a 
wide  surface  to  the  atmosphere,  and  thence  derive 
their  subsistence  and  nutriment.  The  broad  leaves 
likewise  shade  the  ground,  preserve  its  moisture,  and 
in  some  measure  prevent  its  exhaustion  by  the  rain." 
"  In  one  way  and  another,  turnips  give  to  the  land 
almost  as  much  as  they  take  from  it.  But  turnips 
have  a  further  and  ultimate  use ;  they  feed  and  sus 
tain  animals,  from  which  come  our  meat  and  clothing. 
The  great  inquiry  then  should  be,  what  kind  of 
crops  will  least  exhaust  the  soil,  and  at  the  same  time 
furnish  support  to  the  greatest  number  of  animals. 
He  knew  of  no  crop  more  valuable  on  all  accounts 
than  the  turnip,  and  he  was  happy  to  believe  that  the 
farmers  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  England,  Flan- 


104  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ders  and  Italy,  were  not  ignorant  of  its  value.  Its 
culture  in  England  had  trebled  the  number  of  bullocks 
and  sheep,  and  he  had  no  doubt  it  would  produce  a 
similar  result  in  this  country. 

From  his  fields  of  turnips  we  went  to  his  field  of 
carrots,  in  relation  to  which  he  made  remarks  similar 
to  those  concerning  the  turnip,  attaching  almost  as 
much  importance  to  the  one  as  he  did  to  the  other. 

I  find  this  year,  as  I  did  last,  every  variety  of 
what  Mr.  Webster  denominates  his  green  crops,  cul 
tivated  not  ouly-in  a  scientific  manner,  but  upon  a 
scale  far  more  extensive  than  I  had  anticipated.  Each 
plant  furnished  a  topic  on  which  he  dwelt  not  only 
with  apparent  pleasure,  but  in  relation  to  which  he 
showed  a  familiarity  as  astonishing  to  me  as  it  was 
agreeable  to  hear  him. 

While  walking  in  the  garden  the  conversation 
turned  upon  great  men.  I  said  to  Mr.  Webster,  You 
have  doubtless  seen  most  of  the  great  men  of  your 
time,  and  I  should  like  to  hear  you  say  whom  you 
think  the  greatest  man.  He  answered  without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  "  Sir  Robert  Peel  is  head  and 
shoulders  above  any  man  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,"  and 
he  proceeded  to  show,  by  several  apt  comparisons, 
with  the  dead  and  living,  that  Sir  Robert  was  great 
in  all  respects,  "  and  whoever  is  a  great  man,  viewed 
in  the  greatest  number  of  lights,  must  be  regarded," 
said  he,  "  as  the  greatest  of  men."  Nothing  impor 
tant  has  escaped  his  vigilant  mind. 

While  standing  at  a  bed  of  onions,  he  expressed 
his  admiration  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  intimate  know 
ledge,  on  subjects  which  seemed  to  be  of  small 


THANKSGIVING.  105 


•  moment.  Said  he,  "  While  Sir  Robert  was  discuss 
ing  his  great  project  for  a  tariff,  and  for  remodelling 
the  basis  for  taxation,  in  the  midst  of  a  speech,  he 
said  '  And  now,  if  your  Lordship  pleases,  I  come  to 
the  subject  of  onion  seed,'  "  about  which,  said  Mr. 
Webster,  he  talked  with  the  familiarity  of  a  gardener. 
Little  men  scorn  such  topics,  but  great  men  are 
familiar  with  them.  The  shades  of  evening  invited 
us  home,  where,  before  a  bright  crackling  hickory  fire, 
I  have  s^ent  a  delightful  evening.  ,  A  friend  of  Mr. 
Webster  came  to  visit  him,  and  the  conversation  was 
a  succession  of  the  richest  anecdotes  of  the  great 
men  in  this  country  and  in  England,  to  which  I  ever 
listened.  These  anecdotes,  if  collected  and  published 
in  a  volume,  would  instruct  and  delight  thousands  of 
fireside  circles  for  generations  to  come.  A  Marshfield 
potato,  roasted  and  hot,  with  the  leg  and  wing  of  a 
quail,  I  found,  relished  well  for  supper,  and  furnished 
an  agreeable  termination  of  a  well  spent  day.  I  must 
not  forget  to  tell  you,  that  we  have  made  the  prelim 
inary  arrangements  for  some  rare  sport,  which  is  to 
come  off  in  a  day  or  two. 

Yours  truly. 


THANKSGIVING CONVERSATION  ON   SHEEP. 

MAKSHFIELD,  Nov.  30,  1843. 

This  is  "Thanksgiving  Day;"  a  New  England 
thanksgiving. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  it  has  been  the  cus 
tom  with  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  in  this 

VOL.  II.  5* 


106  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

State,  as  you  are  well  aware, — to  set  apart  a  day  in 
Autumn,  after  the  fruits  of  the  year  have  been  gath 
ered  in,  for  thanksgiving,  feasting,  and  recreation, 
To-day  the  children  and  grandchildren  and  great 
grandchildren  of  each  family  are  gathered  together 
under  one  roof,  whenever  circumstances  will  permit, 
to  renew  and  remind  each  other  of  their  parental,  fra 
ternal  or  filial  relations.  It  is  a  good  custom,  and 
one  that  will  continue,  while  the  memory  of  the  Pil 
grims  shall  last. 

Within  a  short  distance  from  where  I  am  writing, 
our  forefathers  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock ;  and  the 
grounds  on  which  I  have  rambled  to-day,  were  culti 
vated  by  the  pilgrims  of  the  May  Flower.  In  De 
cember,  1621,  the  year  after  they  landed,  they  cele 
brated  their  first  thanksgiving,  or  harvest  festival. 
Governor  Bradford  then  designated  the  day,  as  Gov 
ernor  Morton  has  done  it  now.  Edward  Winslow, 
on  the  llth  of  December  of  that  year,  wrote  a  letter 
to  one  George  Morton,  whom  he  addressed  as  "  loving 
and  old  friend."  Speaking  of  the  first  thanksgiving, 
he  says  :  "  Our  harvest  being  gotten  in,  our  Governor 
sent  four  men  on  fowling,  so  that  we  might  after  a 
special  manner,  rejoice  together  after  we  had  gathered 
the  fruits  of  our  labors.  They  four,  in  one  day,  killed 
as  much  fowl  as,  with  a  little  help  beside,  served  the 
company  almost  a  week."  Since  that  day  what  a 
change  !  For  what  small  favors  were  they  thankful 
compared  to  those  which  God  has  given  to  us !  A 
feast  to-day,  is  within  the  reach  of  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  New  England.  The  hand  of  charity  will 
be  so  open,  that  even  the  strolling  beggar  will  feed 


CONVERSATION    ON    SHEEP.  107 

if  he  likes  it,  on  the  fat  of  the  land.  I  went  this 
morning  with  Mr.  Webster  and  one  of  his  men  to  the 
pasture,  to  select  from  his  sheep-fold  something  good 
for  the  occasion.  He  made  choice  of  two  broad- 
backed  Leicesters ;  one  for  himself  and  those  who 
live  with  him,  and  feed  on  his  bounty,  and  another  to 
send  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Charles  Stetson,  of  the  Astor 
House.  I  have  had  a  cut  of  the  one  for  his  own  use, 
and  I  hope  I  shall  have  a  bit  of  the  other,  for  the 
Sykeses  are  all  fond  of  good  mutton,  and  I  intend  to 
be  in  New-York  before  he  has  his  thanksgiving.  This 
is  not  Mr.  Webster's  sheep  farm.  He  keeps  his 
flocks  and  herds  chiefly  on  his  farm  in  Franklin,  New 
Hampshire ;  but  he  has  sixty  or  a  hundred  sheep 
here,  a  flock  of  Southdowns  and  Leicesters,  which  ap 
pear  to  be  fat  and  heavy,  and  were  selected  by  him 
while  abroad  in  1839.  He  informs  me  that  they  do 
very  well,  and  fatten  readily  in  the  pastures  by  the 
sea.  He  keeps  them  here  for  their  meat  more  than 
for  their  wool.  This  occasion  led  to  a  conversation 
on  the  subject  of  sheep,  mutton,  and  beef,  which  to 
me  was  very  interesting. 

Mr.  Webster  commenced  by  remarking  how-little 
the  great  mass  of  Americans  cared  for  mutton  as 
food,  while  in  England,  the  people  generally  esteem 
it  the  very  best  of  butcher's  meats.  He  said  he  be 
lieved  one  reason  to  be,  that  the  English  mutton  in 
general,  was  better  than  ours.  "  You  may  occasion 
ally,"  he  said,  "  find  good  mutton  in  Albany,  New- 
York,  and  Philadelphia,  but  in  England  you  find  no 
bad  mutton." 

It  is  a  maxim  with  English  farmers,  that  it  is  not 


108  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

only  bad  economy,  but  absolute  waste,  to  eat  poor 
meat,  whether  beef  or  mutton.  Being  at  the  house 
one  day  of  a  very  distinguished  gentleman  of  the 
medical  profession,  he  learned  something  about  the 
age  at  which  bullocks  and  sheep  ought  to  be  killed, 
in  order  to  be  superior  for  the  table.  To  make  the 
best  beef,  a  bullock  should  not  be  slaughtered  before 
it  is  at  least  five  years  old,  and  a  sheep  should  not  be 
killed  before  it  is  three.  A  lamb,  indeed,  may  get 
nearly  its  full  growth  at  a  year  and  a  half,  or  twenty 
months,  and  become  very  fat,  and  this  is  the  age  at 
which  they  are  usually  sold  for  the  shambles  ;  but 
such  early  mutton  is  not  delicately  mixed,  the  lean 
with  the  fat.  It  shrinks  in  boiling,  and  when  cut 
upon  the  table,  fills  the  dish  with  white  gravy.  Mut 
ton  two  years  older,  though  no  fatter,  will  have  a 
much  higher  flavor,  the  muscle  and  fat  being  better 
mixed,  and  when  thoroughly  cooked  will  fill  the  dish 
with  red  gravy.  The  same  distinction,  he  said,  might 
be  observed  between  the  beef  of  a  bullock  three  years 
old,  and  that  of  one  five  or  six. 

Mr.  Webster  added,  that  although  this  was  con 
trary  to  the  received  opinion,  he  believed  it  was  nev 
ertheless  true,  and  he  wished  all  lovers  of  good  beef 
and  mutton  to  try  it,  and  settle  the  matter  by  their 
own  experience.  ****** 

He  said  he  began  to  think  the  time  was  approach 
ing  when  long  woolled  sheep  would  be  in  demand  for 
the  use  of  our  American  manufacturing  establish 
ments,  and  if  he  were  a  young  man,  and  now  begin 
ning  to  be  a  farmer,  he  would  have  some  Lincoln- 


CONVERSATION    ON    SHEEP.  109 

shire  sheep,  fellows  that  would  yield  twenty  pounds 
per  annum. 

He  believed  that  some  sharp-sighted  individuals 
in  the  State  of  New-York  were  already  turning  their 
attention  in  that  direction.  The  time  is  rapidly  ap 
proaching  when  this  is  to  be  a  great  wool-growing 
as  well  as  wool-consuming  country,  although  at  pre 
sent  the  whole  number  of  sheep  in  the  United  States 
does  not  much  exceed  20,000,000,  and  more  than 
5,000,000  of  these  are  in  the  State  of  New- York. 
Sheep-raising  cannot  be  made  a  profitable  business  on 
the  coast ;  the  mountain  ranges  and  highlands,  back 
from  the  sea,  he  says,  are  the  regions  for  sheep.  It 
was  the  opinion  of  Jonathan  Roberts,  a  veteran  far 
mer  in  Pennsylvania,  who  had  taken  much  interest  in 
that  kind  of  stock,  that  land  in  abundance  could  be 
procured  at  a  price  that  would  enable  the  wool- 
growers  to  produce  it  at  30  cents  a  pound. 

With  the  feeding  and  taking  care  of  sheep,  Mr. 
Webster  appears  to  be  perfectly  familiar,  and  entered 
into  it  at  length  ;  he  spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest  in 
dignation  against  the  mode  adopted  by  those  who 
sometimes  treat  so  good  an  animal  so  badly,  so  inhu 
manly  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  he  spoke  of  his 
mode  of  treating  "his  lambs"  in  such  a  manner 
that  he  not  only  excited  my  admiration — by  the  ex 
tent  of  his  researches  and  thoughts  on  this  point — 
but  awoke  my  deepest  sympathy.  Cruelty  to  brutes, 
and  especially  to  one  which  is  so  often  spoken  of  as 
the  type  of  innocence,  never  fails  to  touch  a  tender 
chord.  I  have  heard  him  in  the  Senate  and  at  the 
bar — I  have  heard  him  speaking  to  countless  crowds 


110  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

— I  have  heard  him  at  the  festive  board,  and  indeed 
upon  almost  all  occasions,  back  to  which  I  look  with 
almost  infinite  pleasure — but  I  never  heard  him  on  a 
subject  when  he  interested  me  more  than  he  has  to 
day.  The  idea  which  I  am  able  to  give  you  of  what  he 
has  said,  and  of  the  vast  volume  of  information  im 
parted,  is  so  faint  and  meagre,  that  I  have  almost  a 
mind  to  throw  what  I  have  written  in  the  fire. 

Upon  a  second  thought,  I  conclude  I  will  send  it, 
leaving  you  to  imagine  how  much  I  have  omitted. 

Yours  truly. 


MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS — ANECDOTES,  ETC. — HIS  LIBRARY — ANECDOTE 
OF  JOHN   ADAMS. 

MARSHFIELD,  Dec.  6,  1843. 

The  weather  to-day  has  been  cold  and  stormy  ;  I 
have  not,  therefore,  wandered  far  from  the  fireside. 
But  time  has  not  hung  heavily  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
whole  day  and  evening  have  been  cheerfully  spent. 
I  never  knew  an  hour  to  drag  heavily  where  Mr. 
Webster  was  ;  indeed  I  find  too  often  that  the  hour 
is  gone  before  I  am  fairly  conscious  of  its  passage. 

I  do  not  believe  the  man  lives  who  is  more  capa 
ble  of  filling  up  every  hour  and  every  moment,  with 
what  is  either  highly  valuable  or  greatly  amusing, 
than  the  distinguished  gentleman  with  whom  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  being  a  guest.  I  would  not  for  the 
world  mention  to  anybody,  and  much  less  in  a  letter 
which  might  find  its  way  into  the  papers,  a  quarter  of 
the  incidents  of  a  day,  or  what  is  said ;  for  such  a 


MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  Ill 

betrayal  of  confidence  would  justly  drive  me  from  his 
hospitable  roof. 

I  trust,  therefore,  I  do  not  say  a  word,  which  may 
not  with  propriety  be  said  ;  and  when  I  speak  of  Mr. 
Webster's  farm,  his  crops,  sheep,  cattle  and  all  around 
him,  I  only  speak  of  what  you,  or  anybody  else  can 
see,  by  coming  here,  as  well  as  myself.  Indeed  he 
knows  that  you  publish  a  good  many  of  my  letters ; 
he  knows  my  scribbling  propensity,  and  if  I  had 
written  a  word  I  ought  not  to  have  written,  he  would 
have  mentioned  it  to  me. 

Ahd  when  I  write  you  what  he  says  on  the  sub 
ject  of  agriculture,  or  on  other  similar  topics,  I  only 
mention  what  he  would  himself  say  to  you,  or  to  any 
assembly  of  men,  if  present  on  such  an  occasion.  He 
sometimes,  indeed  he  often,  condescends  in  these  fami 
liar  "  table  talks  "  to  utter  sentiments  to  which  a  se 
nate,  or  a  cabinet,  or  a  court,  or  a  board  of  agriculture, 
or  a  chamber  of  commerce,  or  men  of  letters,  or  arts, 
or  of  sciences,  might  listen  with  infinite  advantage  and 
delight.  And  I  deeply  regret  that  what  he  says  on 
such  occasions,  nine  times  out  of  ten,  is  doonred  to 
die  with  the  memory  of  those  who  hear  it.  Why 
was  it  not  so  ordained  that  such  men  could  bequeath  to 
those  who,  in  the  course  of  nature,  must  come  after 
them,  their  storehouses  of  mental  acquisitions,  in 
stead  of  their  stores  of  goods  and  chattels,  or  their 
Lands  and  stocks,  which  only  they  are  permitted  to 
bequeath  ?  In  that  case,  how  vastly  superior  would 
he  the  bequests  of  Daniel  Webster,  to  those  of  John 
Jacob  Astor !  What  a  setting  out  it  would  be  to  a 
young  man  on  coming  to  manhood,  if  he  could  inherit 


112  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

the  mental  capacity  and  acquisitions  of  John  Quincj 
Adams  !  Soon  after  breakfast  I  went  into  the  study. 
The  warmth  of  the  room,  the  quantity  of  embers 
and  the  expiring  brands  showed  that  the  fire  for  this 
morning  had  not  been  recently  kindled.  On  the 
table  was  a  pile  of  letters  for  George  to  seal  and 
carry  to  the  mails,  besides  manuscripts  indicating  no 
small  amount  of  labor  performed  before  8  o'clock. 
Around  Mr.  Webster  lay  books  of  authority,  which 
had  been  opened  and  consulted.  His  day's,  work  was 
nearly  done. 

A  small  portion  only  of  his  large  library  has  yet 
been  brought  here.  A  portion  of  it  is  at  Washing 
ton,  and  a  much  larger  portion  at  Boston.  During 
the  last  summer  he  has  erected  an  addition  to  his 
house  here,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  library, 
which  is  now  to  be  collected  together.  The  building 
is  twenty  feet  between  the  floor  and  the  ceiling, 
divided  into  proper  apartments,  and  finished  in  the 
Gothic  style. 

His  books,  I  think,  have  cost  him  nearly  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  besides  the  vast  numbers  which 
have  been  presented  to  him  from  authors  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

When  put  up  according  to  his  present  arrange 
ments,  his  library  will  be  well  worth  a  visit.  He  has 
a  great  many  valuable  manuscripts,  notes  and  com 
mentaries,  besides  the  draughts  and  copies  of  an  ex 
tensive  correspondence  with  the  distinguished  men  of 
the  age,  including  letters  to  and  from  himself  on 
many  important  matters  that  have  occurred  during 


PUBLIC    MEETING. 


his  time.     The  subject  of  agriculture  is  not  the  least 
important. 

At  dinner,  Mr.  Webster  related  in  his  happiest 
style  several  anecdotes  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
great  men  who  have  gone  off  the  stage,  and  among 
them  the  following,  showing  the  force  of  language 
and  figures  as  used  by  one  of  them.  He  said  he 
called  one  day  to  see  Mr.  John  Adams,  the  com 
patriot  of  "Washington,  and  second  President,  who 
was  a  large,  fat  man,  and  at  times  had  great  difficulty 
in  breathing.  He  made  this  call  a  little  while  pre 
vious  to  his  death.  He  found  him  reclining  on  a 
sofa,  evidently  in  feeble  health.  He  said  to  Mr. 
Adams,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  sir,  and  I  hope  you 
are  getting  along  pretty  well."  To  which  Mr.  Adams 
replied,  after  taking  a  long  breath,  in  the  following 
figurative  language  :  "  Ah !  sir,  quite  the  contrary. 
I  find  I  am  a  poor  tenant,  occupying  a  house  much 
shattered  by  time  ;  it  sways  and  trembles  with  every 
wind,  and  has,  in  fact,  gone  almost  to  decay ;  and 
what  is  worse,  sir,  the  landlord,  as  near  as  I  can  find 
out,  don't  intend  to  make  any  repairs." 

Yours  truly. 


PUBLIC    MEETING. 


SPRINGFIELD,  Aug.  9,  1844. 

*  *  *  *  .  At  Pittsfield,  Mr.  Francis  Granger 
came  into  the  cars  as  a  passenger,  and  he,  too,  was 
most  rapturously  cheered.  Thus  we  came  and  ar 
rived  here,  at  8-£  o'clock.  At  the  depot  the  crowd 


114  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

was  immense.  The  whole  population  of  the  village 
seemed  to  be  there  to  receive  Mr.  Webster,  who  was 
momentarily  expected.  Soon  the  Eastern  train  ar 
rived,  bringing  not  only  Mr.  Webster  and  his  lady, 
with  some  friends  who  are  on  a  pleasure  trip ; — but 
Mr.  Choate,  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  other  distinguished 
personages  from  the  East.  When  they  all  landed, 
the  vast  multitude  rent  the  air  with  plaudits,  and 
escorted  them  to  their  respective  lodgings.  It  is 
strange  that  any  man  has  been  able  to  get  such  a  hold 
on  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  his  State,  as  this 
great  man  has.  I  cannot,  if  I  would,  describe  the 
enthusiasm  which  seizes  them  as  he  approaches.  The 
mention  of  his  name  is  like  a  u  hip,  hip,  hip  ;"  which 
you  know  is  followed  by  "  three  times  three."  The 
town  was  beautifully  illuminated  in  the  evening,  and 
fireworks  of  various  kinds  were  displayed.  All  night 
long  the  people  from  distant  places  continued  to 
arrive. 

*  *  *  Thirty  thousand  people  have  attended 
the  meeting.  The  procession  was  grand.  Mr.  Win- 
throp  spoke  one  hour,  Mr.  Granger  a  little  longer, 
Mr.  Choate  about  fifty  minutes,  and  Mr.  Webster 
about  twenty. 

Yours  truly. 


A   TEIP   ALONG    THE    VALLEY    OF   THE    CONNECTICUT. 

SPRINGFIELD,  (MASS.,)  Aug.  14,  3844. 
In  my  last  letter  I  mentioned  to  you  that  a  party 
came  here  with  Mr.  Webster,  which  was  composed  of 


ALONG  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT.   115 

several  ladies  and  gentlemen.  To  the  highest  en 
dowments  of  nature  all  of  them  have  added  what 
education,  travelling,  and  careful  observation  can  do, 
to  qualify  them  for  the  fullest  and  most  rational  en 
joyment.  The  object  of  the  trip  is,  not  only  to  culti 
vate  health,  but  to  see  a  portion  of  the  good  old 
'•  Bay  State,"  not  visited  by  the  majority  of  travel 
lers.  At  this  season  how  much  more  sensible  to  go 
forth  and  breathe  the  pure  air  of  the  country,  than 
to  remain  in  "  a  pent-up  city,"  feeding  upon  the 
vapors  of  the  town  ! 

*  *  *  We  shall  proceed  up  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  River  to  Northampton,  and  so  on,  to 
visit  some  other  towns  on  its  banks  ;  then  to  return 
by  some  other  route  to  Boston,  and  thence  to  Marsh- 
field.  To  me  this  route  is  quite  new,  and  as  it  is 
about  my  time  for  making  my  annual  visit  to  the 
retreat  of  Mr.  Webster,  I  look  forward  to  the  inci 
dents  of  the  journey  with  pleasure.  It  is  a  rare  in 
stance  that  Mr.  Webster  consents  to  make  a  trip  so 
leisurely  as  he  proposes  to  make  this.  It  will  be  a 
source  of  relaxation  to  him  and  of  happiness  to 
those  with  him. 

Among  the  gentlemen  whom  we  meet  here,  is  the 
Honorable  George  Ashmun,  for  whom  Mr.  Webster 
entertains  very  high  respect,  and  places  him  in  the 
first  rank  of  his  personal  friends. 

Yours  truly. 


116  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


VALLEY  OF   THE    CONNECTICUT. 

NORTHAMPTON,  MASS.,  Aug.,  1844. 

The  party,  of  which  I  spoke  in  my  last  letter,  set 
out  this  morning,  and  has  safely  reached  this  place. 
Mr.  Webster  and  the  ladies,  Mr.  B.  and  myself,  six 
in  number,  took  seats  in  an  extra  stage-coach — as 
parties  of  pleasure  were  accustomed  to  do  before  rail 
roads  had  driven  that  good  old  mode  of  travelling 
from  almost  all  the  great  thoroughfares. 

I  am  a  constant  advocate  in  the  cause  of  internal 
improvement,  and  I  would  have  a  railway  on  every 
important  route  in  the  country,  developing  its  re 
sources,  affording,  not  only  facilities,  but  strong  in 
ducements  to  travel,  and  in  other  respects  aiding  in 
the  advancement  of  all  the  concerns  of  life.  *  * 

No  incident  worthy  of  much  note  occurred  on  the 
way.  Each  hamlet  suggested  new  topics  for  conver-, 
sation,  and  of  course  arrested  our  attention.  The  fine 
farms,  the  rich  crops,  and  noble  herds  of  cattle,  drew 
from  Mr.  Webster,  as  we  passed  along,  many  valuable 
remarks  upon  agricultural  subjects,  with  which,  as 
everybody  knows,  he  is  very  familiar.  Two  of  the 
ladies  had  travelled  over  England,  seeing  the  resi 
dences  and  estates  of  the  nobility.  Occasionally  a 
section  of  the  valley  reminded  them  of  what  they  had 
visited  abroad,  and  this  often  led  to  topics  full  of  in 
terest.  The  whole  party  was  in  excellent  spirits,  and 
enjoyed  it  much.  Many  and  many  a  day  will  go  by 
before  another  ride  will  be  had  as  agreeable  to  me  as 
that  of  this  morning.  It  appeared  to 'be  agreeable  to 


VALLEY    OF    THE    CONNECTICUT.  11 Y 

all  of  the  party,  for  all  knew  how  to  appreciate  and 
enjoy  the  beautiful  country  through  which  we  passed. 

We  drove  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut 
River  for  several  miles,  and  then  crossed  over  in  a 
ferry-boat,  propelled  in  the  old  mode,  by  two  horses 
walking  around  like  convicts  in  a  tread-mill.  Steam 
power,  for  which  the  ladies  would  have  had  less  sym 
pathy  than  for  these  poor  horses,  is  not  yet  in  use. 
We  crossed  the  Chickapee  River — a  rapid  stream — 
on  a  bridge  about  three  hundred  feet  long.  The 
bridge  is  high,  stands  on  seven  stone  piers,  and  af 
forded  us,  while  crossing,  a  fine  view  of  the  dam  and 
manufacturing  establishment.  The  village  of  Chick 
apee,  (or  Chickopee,  as  I  saw  it  written  on  the  guide- 
board,)  is  about  a  mile  north  of  the  bridge,  and  is  a 
neat  and  flourishing  hamlet. 

Mr.  Webster  said  that  not  many  towns  in  New 
England  have  sent  forth  more  great  and  good  men 
than  this.  Some  of  them  seem  to  have  been  influ 
enced  by  the  grandeur  of  the  mountains  and  scenery 
amid  which  they  were  born.  Among  the  distinguish 
ed  men  who  had  their  origin  here,  are  Caleb  Strong, 
the  former  Governor  of  the  State  ;  and  Judge  Strong, 
an  upright  and  eminent  man ;  Rev.  Dr.  Edwards,  the 
great  theologian ;  his  son,  Dr.  Edwards,  formerly 
President  of  Union  College  ;  the  great  and  good  So 
lomon  Stoddard,  an  eminent  divine  ;  and  his  son,  Hon. 
John  Stoddard. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  names  which  have  graced 
the  annals  of  our  country — men  who  have  conferred 
honor  on  the  place  of  their  birth.  Their  memories 
are  cherished  with  affectionate  regard  by  the  citizens 


118  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  the  village.  We  paid  our  respects  to  a  venerable 
and  highly  respectable  citizen — Judge  Lyman — who 
is,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  little  indisposed.  His  head 
is  white  with  age,  but  his  bland  and  agreeable  man 
ners  indicate  that  he  has  not  forgotten  the  charms  of 
hospitality,  for  which  he  has  long  been  loved,  He 
and  Mr.  Webster  talked  over  the  many  scenes,  social 
and  political,  through  which  they  had  passed.  At 
three  o'clock,  we  returned  home  to  dine  ;  and,  while 
dining,  we  projected  an  excursion  to  the  top  of  Mount 
Holyoke ;  an  account  of  which  I  will  give  you  in  my 
next. 

Yours  truly. 


JOURNEY     FROM     TIIE     CONNECTICUT     TO     MARSHFIELD THE     BOOKS 

MR.     WEBSTER    READS HOW    HE     READS     BOOKS RESPECT     OF 

THE   PEOPLE. 

MARSIIFIELD,  Aug.,  1844. 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Northampton,  as  we  were 
about  setting  out  for  a  rapid  drive  up  the  valley  of 
the  Connecticut. 

On  the  way  across  the  country  to  this  place,  I  had 
neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  write  from  either  of 
the  NewEngland  villages  we  visited.  We  passed 
through  a  large  number  of  them,  remarkable  for  their 
neatness  and  apparent  thrift,  and  in  relation  to  each 
I  could  write  a  paragraph  or  two,  perhaps  of  some 
interest,  for  each  has  its  legends,  and  its  peculiar  his 
tory  ;  but  I  shall  omit  it  all  till  I  make  another  trip, 
which  I  intend  to  do  when  more  at  leisure. 

My   account  of   our   drive   from   Springfield  to 


THE    BOOKS    HE    BEADS.  119 

Northampton,  will  afford  you  some  idea  of  the 
pleasures  we  enjoyed  as  we  passed  from  one  village 
to  another.  The  party,  however,  after  leaving  the 
latter  place,  occupied  two  carriages  instead  of  one, 
which,  being  open,  gave  us  a  fine  view  of  the  moun 
tains  and  valleys  as  we  drove  on. 

Before  setting  out,  Mr.  Webster  provided  himself 
with  a  variety  of  entertaining  books,  which,  like  Na 
poleon,  he  read  constantly,  when  not  engaged  in  con 
versation,  or  not  interested  in  some  object  by  the 
way-side.  One  of  these  books  was  "  Pencillings  by 
the  Way,"  which  he  read  attentively,  and  praised  ;  he 
said  the  letters  were  both  instructive  and  amusing, 
and  evinced  great  talents  on  the  part  of  the  author. 
He  read  the  books  through  with  great  rapidity, 
catching  at  a  glance  what  each  page  unfolded,  and 
mastering  their  contents  within  a  quarter  of  the  time 
which  I  should  consume.  He  did  not,  however,  like 
the  Emperor,  tear  out  the  pages  as  fast  as  he  perused 
them,  and  from  the  window  of  his  carriage  scatter 
them  to  the  winds.  To  me  it  was  instructive  to  see 
him  read  a  book.  He  first  went  over  the  index,  and 
apparently  fixed  the  framework  of  it  in  his  mind ; 
then  he  studied  with  equal  earnestness  the  synopsis 
of  each  chapter.  Then  he  looked  at  the  length  of 
the  chapter.  Thus,  before  he  began  to  read  it,  he 
took  an  accurate  survey  of  its  parts.  Then  he  read 
it ;  passing  rapidly  over  whatever  was  commonplace, 
and  dwelling  only  on  what  was  original  and  worthy 
of  note. 

At  one  time,  while  conversing  on  the  subject  of 
reading,  and  of  topics  worth  the  attention  of  men,  he 


120  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

said  he  wished  he  could  live  three  lives,  while  living 
this: 

One  he  would  devote  to  the  study  of  Geology,  or, 
to  use  his  own  words,  "  to  reading  the  earth's  history 
of  itself." 

Another  life  he  would  devote  to  Astronomy ;  he 
said  he  had  lately  been  reading  the  history  of  that 
science,  written  so  clearly,  that  he,  although  no  ma 
thematician,  could  understand  it,  and  he  was  aston 
ished  at  seeing  to  what  heights  it  had  been  pushed  by 
modern  intellects. 

The  other  life  he  would  devote  to  the  Classics. 

He  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  commendation 
of  the  acquirements  in  this  respect  of  Mr.  Choate, 
\\ho  by  the  daily  habit  of  reading  them,  has  become 
as  familiar  with  those  languages  as  they  who  wrote 
them. 

While  at  school,  he  (Mr.  "Webster)  had  never 
read  much  of  Greek  or  Latin.  He  had,  however, 
read  the  latter  considerably  while  in  the  study  and 
practice  of  the  law. 

The  best  of  his  life  he  had  devoted  to  law  and 
politics,  and  he  mentioned  what  great  authors  he  had 
studied,  on  both  subjects,  with  most  attention.  For 
his  light  reading  and  for  amusement,  he  had  chosen 
the  travels  and  biographies  of  men  more  or  less  emi 
nent  in  various  respects.  But  for  the  last  ten  years, 
he  had  studied  natural  subjects,  and  from  these  only 
could  he  derive  any  adequate  satisfaction.  As  years 
crept  upon  him,  he  felt  his  mind  involuntarily  drawn 
more  to  the  study  and  contemplation  of  sober  reali 
ties — to  the  book  of  nature  itself,  rather  than  to  the 


RESPECT  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  121 

fancies  and  speculations  which  belong  to  youth  and 
early  manhood. 

I  have  heretofore  spoken  of  the  respect  and  high 
regard  shown  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  this  State 
for  Mr.  Webster.  Wherever  we  stopped,  strong  de 
monstrations  were  made  of  the  hold  he  has  upon 
them.  Lawyers,  clergymen,  farmers,  and  all  classes 
have  some  prominent  reason  for  their  attachment ; 
and  in  a  moment  after  his  arrival  at  any  village,  al 
though  he  manifestly  shunned  observation,  the  news 
flew  from  house  to  house,  and  men,  women  and  chil 
dren  gathered  around,  but  without  being  obtrusive, 
and  seemed  to  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  to  take,  as 
one  of  them  said,  "  a  good  look  at  him." 

We  added  to  the  party  a  young  lady  from  Bos 
ton,  and  another  Mr.  Blatchford  from  New- York,  to 
gether  with  Mr.  Tileston,  a  gentleman  from  the  same 
city,  who  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  companions  for 
such  an  excursion  I  have  ever  met. 

These  gentlemen  have  left  their  banks,  their  in 
surance  companies,  their  counting-houses,  have  turned 
their  backs  on  their  vast  concerns,  for  a  week  of  un 
alloyed  sport ;  and,  rely  upon  it,  they  will  have  it. 

If  enjoyment  can  be  obtained  by  seeking  for  it, 
here  it  can  be  found.  We  came  by  the  route  I  have 
heretofore  described,  and  arrived  just  as  the  evening 
shades  began  to  appear. 

We  dined  at  6  o'clock.  A  fishing  excursion  is 
already  projected  for  to-morrow.  The  excitement  in 
anticipation  begins  to  run  high,  for  both  Mr.  Blatch- 


122  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

ford  and  Mr.  Tileston  are  expert  fishermen,  and  the 
strife  is,  who  will  take  the  greatest  number  5  I  have 
bet  on  Mr.  Tileston.  I  now  go  to  my  pillow  for  that 
sweet  sleep  which  follows  a  day  of  wholesome  exer 
cise.  My  windows  open  upon  the  sea,  from  which 
comes  the  most  delicious  gales  to  freshen  and  invigo 
rate  the  sources  of  health. 

Yours  truly. 


MR.  WEBSTER  AND  A  PARTY  COD-FISHING. 

MAESHFIKLD,  August,  1844. 

The  sun  rose  this  morning  with  unusual  splendor. 
I  was  up  to  see  it.  Just  as  I  threw  up  my  window, 
his  upper  disk  was  emerging,  as  it  were,  from  the  bo 
som  of  the  ocean,  and  I  watched  his  rising  steadily 
till  the  whole  orb  was  above  the  water.  A  magnifi 
cent  spectacle.  The  artificial  fire-works,  which  crowds 
rush  to  Niblo's  to  see,  dwindle  to  nothing,  compared 
with  the  great  natural  display  which  I  saw,  and  which 
Mr.  Webster  sees  every  fair  morning  when  at  home. 

The  fishermen,  Mr.  Blatchford  and  Mr.  Tileston, 
of  New- York,  and  myself,  were  summoned  to  break 
fast  at  6  o'clock,  according  to  the  arrangements  made 
last  night.  The  ladies  were,  undoubtedly,  in  a  sound 
sleep.  Coming  from  a  long  journey,  replete  with  ex 
citement  and  fatigue,  nothing  could  be  more  agreeable 
to  them  than  prolonged  slumbers,  and  the  uninter 
rupted  indulgence  of  their  sweet  dreams.  They  were, 
therefore,  not  called.  While  we  were  partaking  of 
that  early  repast,  the  wagons  to  take  us  to  the  fish- 


A    COD-FISHING    PARTY.  123 

house,  with  all  the  apparatus  for  sport,  were  drawn  to 
the  door.  Each  one  put  on  an  apparel  adapted  to  the 
business.  I  will  not  stop  to  describe  each  dress,  but 
suffice  it  to  say  that  four  fine  subjects  for  the  pencil 
of  some  Hogarth,  were  presented  in  our  tableaux  vi- 
vant  on  the  porch  (including  Mr.  "Webster),  all  bent 
on  fun. 

We  drove  rapidly  to  the  point  of  land  at  Green 
Harbor,  distant  from  the  mansion  about  two  miles, 
where  his  fish-house  is  located,  and  where  his  boats, 
when  not  engaged,  are  moored  for  safety. 

On  the  way  we  took  in  Mr.  Seth  Peterson,  who 
was  made  famous  by  Mr.  Webster's  speech  at  Sara 
toga  in  1840.  He  knows,  not  only  where  the  best 
fishing  grounds  are,  but  how  to  make  the  sport  agree 
able  to  gentlemen.  Respect  for  his  age  and  expe 
rience  induces  Mr.  Webster  to  call  him  Commodore 
Peterson.  Every  thing  being  ready,  we  embarked 
in  a  small  sail  boat  called  the  Signet ,  which  was 
pulled  by  oars  a  short  way  down  the  river  to  the  har 
bor,  where  Mr.  Webster's  beautiful  yatch  Cornet^  un 
der  command  of  Captain  Nicholas,  lay  in  waiting  with 
her  anchor  weighed.  We  boarded  her,  and  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  sails  were  thrown  to  the 
breeze,  and  we  were  scudding  before  the  wind.  The 
Commodore  in  the  Signet  unfurled  his  sail  and 
followed  in  our  wake.  We  steered  for  the  fishing 
grounds,  some  eight  or  nine  miles  from  the  land, 
where  codfish  and  haddock  abound. 

We  had  not  sailed  far,  before  we  saw  what  to  a 
landsman  was  almost  incredible.  It  was  a  shoal  of 
manhaden,  literally  filling  acres  of  the  sea.  I  could 


124  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

scarcely  believe  my  own  eyes.  It  was  the  first  time 
I  ever  had  any  adequate  idea  of  the  innumerable  inha 
bitants  of  the  ocean.  The  sands  upon  the  shore,  the 
leaves  of  the  forests,  are  no  more  countless  than  these 
fish.  Millions  of  fins  were  protruded  above  the  sur 
face,  making  the  bay  resemble  an  extensive  marsh 
covered  with  water,  when  the  growing  grass  appears 
above  it.  As  we  glided  on,  we  saw  them  moving  to 
the  right  and  left,  so  thick,  they  seemed  to  crowd 
each  other. 

Mr.  Webster  informed  us  that  these  manhaden 
are  a  species  of  herring,  which,  from  the  first  of  July 
to  the  last  of  August,  swarm  along  the  shores  of  the 
NewEngland  States  and  Long  Island.  They  are  too 
oily  to  be  much  used  for  food,  but  they  are  exten 
sively  used  for  manure.  He  applies  them  with  great 
effect  to  his  lands,  which  had  been  worn  out  by  too 
long  cultivation  without  being  adequately  manured, 
and  these  lands  now  yield  abundant  crops. 

These  fish  are  also  used  as  mackarel  bait,  and  as 
bait  for  other  fish.  At  Lynn,  in  1836,  1,500  barrels 
were  disposed  of  for  this  purpose.  Recently,  they 
have  constituted  an  article  of  commerce.  The  usual 
length  of  the  manhaden  is  from  ten  to  fourteen  in 
ches,  and  they  weigh,  on  an  average,  he  says,  about  a 
pound.  Two  hundred  of  them  fill  a  barrel,  which  will 
bring,  at  the  shore,  15  cents.  One  hundred  barrels 
to  the  acre  is  very  rich  manure.  One  fish  is  equal  to 
a  shovel  full  of  common  manure,  and  he  said  it  fre 
quently  happens  that  the  fishermen  take,  with  a  seine, 
five  hundred  barrels  at  a  single  haul.  One  hundred 
barrels  is  a  moderate  haul.  These  manhaden,  he 


A    COD-FISHING    PARTY.  125 

says,  are  caljed  by  various  names,  such,  as  bony  fish, 
moss-bunkers,  mars-bunkers,  hard-heads  and  parr- 
hengers ;  but,  for  a  joke,  he  called  them  Marshfield 
roses — a  name  suggested,  doubtless,  by  their  perfume 
just  after  being  exposed  on  the  fields  which  they  are 
to  enrich.  After  passing  these  fish,  we  heard  the 
Commodore  cry  out  from  the  Signet,  "Look  to  the 
forward  ! "  which  we  did,  and  there  saw  an  immense 
shoal  of  porpoises,  apparently  bound  for  Plymouth 
Bay,  and  going  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles 
the  hour.  The  whereabouts  and  rapidity  of  their 
movements,  were  seen  by  their  constant  leaping  above 
the  surface.  While  we  watched  their  movements, 
there  was  scarcely  a  moment  when  several  were  not 
out  of  the  water.  It  was  a  sight  to  make  a  lands 
man  stare. 

On  our  way  out,  Mr.  Webster  was  chiefly  occu 
pied  examining  the  hooks  and  lines,  and  in  adjusting 
and  distributing  among  the  party  the  requisite  fishing 
apparatus,  with  which  the  Comet  was  well  furnished ; 
others  did  what  was  called  "  trailing  for  mackerel." 
Mr.  Blatchford,  with  no  bait  but  a  bit  of  white  rag, 
while  trailing  his  hook,  caught  a  codfish,  weighing 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  pounds.  This  indicated  what 
luck  was  to  attend  his  fishing. 

At  length  we  reached  the  ground  designated  by  the 
Commodore,  hauled  down  the  canvas,  cast  anchor,  and 
went  to  work.  Mr.  Blatchford  and  Mr.  Tileston  were 
each  provided  with  two  lines — one  large,  for  codfish  ; 
the  other  small,  for  haddock ;  which  were  baited  ac 
cordingly,  and  both  occupied  the  most  favorable  po 
sition  in  the  yacht ;  because,  in  addition  to  the  sport 


126  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

which  all  expected,  the  strife  between  those  gentle 
men  for  the  largest  number,  added  much  to  the  ex 
citement  of  the  occasion,  and  entitled  them  to  the  pre 
ference.  I  had  bet  on  the  success  of  Mr.  Tileston. 
The  weather  was  favorable,  and  the  sport  began  early, 
and  continued  without  much  interruption  till  it  was 
time  to  set  out  for  home. 

Mr.  Blatchford,  in  the  morning,  led  off  in  advance 
of  Mr.  Tileston,  in  numbers,  and  by  1 1  o'clock,  he  was 
a  dozen  ahead. 

When  the  sport  was  over,  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  former  had  taken  seventy-one,  and  the  latter 
fifty-seven. 

I  lost  my  wager.  Mr.  Webster  and  myself  had 
tolerable  luck ;  but  we  did  not  zealously  apply  our 
selves  to  the  sport  more  than  half  the  time.  There 
were,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  a  great  many  pleasant 
incidents  during  the  day,  to  break  any  monotony  that 
might  otherwise  have  existed,  and  to  keep  up  the  ex 
citement. 

A  chowder,  made  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Webster,  and  a  dinner  composed  of  codfish,  haddock, 
perch,  lobster,  and  othe*  delicacies  of  the  ocean,  fol 
lowed  ;  and  I  need  not  add,  that  they  were  well  re 
lished  by  us  all.  We  had  the  company  of  ladies,  and 
the  evening  went  pleasantly  away. 

Mr.  Webster  proposed  a  rubber  of  whist,  which 
was  cheerfully  played,  he  taking  a  hand.  I  have 
often  played  with  him  when  there  was  just  time 
enough  for  three  games  before  his  early  hour  for  re 
tiring.  He  played  well. 

My  friend,  Mr.  Tileston,  says  "  it  will  not  do  to 


HORTICULTURE.  127 


give  it  up,"  and  has  challenged  Mr.  Blatchford  to 
another  contest,  to-morrow,  which  the  latter  has  ac 
cepted.  I  shall  be  there  to  see. 

Yours  truly. 


HORTICULTURE — PRESERVES    BIRDS   AND   SQUIRRELS FAMOUS  HORSB 

FISHING   WITH    LADIES DRIVE    TO    THE    POINT    FOR    TAKING 

THE  BEST   VIEW. 

MARSHFIELD,  Aug.  1844. 

Instead  of  going  on  the  fishing  excursion  with 
Mr.  Blatchford  and  Mr.  Tileston,  with  whom  the 
strife  for  the  greater  number  still  rages,  I  preferred 
to  remain  to-day  on  shore  with  Mr.  Webster  and  the 
ladies.  The  Comet  sailed  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  at  an  early  hour,  with  the  two  gentlemen  above- 
named,  and  all  the  appointments  required  for  the 
rarest  sport. 

The  wind  was  fair,  and  the  day  was  fine. 

After  breakfast,  I  took  a  stroll  through  the  gar 
den  and  the  grounds  adjacent  to  the  mansion.  During 
a  part  of  the  time,  Mr.  Webster,  knowing  my  fond 
ness  for  seeing  whatever  is  interesting  in  agriculture 
or  horticulture,  was  with  me.  He  showed  me  his 
various  kinds  of  fruit  trees — his  pears,  plums, 
peaches  and  apples.  His  orchard  this  year  fairly 
groans  under  the  weight  of  its  burden ;  and  among 
the  apples  are  some  of  the  best  I  ever  saw.  In  his 
garden  are  several  varieties  of  plums,  and  among  them 
the  Orleans,  very  fine  and  early.  He  told  me  a  fact 
with  respect  to  plum  trees  that  I  did  not  know  be- 


128  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

fore,  which  is,  they  should  not  be  cultivated  like 
other  fruit  trees,  after  they  come  to  bear.  "  The 
soil,"  said  he,  ':  should  not  be  rich,  and  should  be 
trodden  down  like  a  gravel  walk.  The  result  will 
be,  that  the  tree  will  not  grow  so  fast,  and  the  sap 
will  centre  itself  more  in  the  fruit.  It  is  the  prac 
tice  of  some  who  cultivate  the  plum  extensively, 
after  the  trees  are  eight  or  ten  years  old,  if  in  a  rich 
soil,  to  remove  it  for  ten  feet  in  circumference,  and 
put  in  its  place  poor  earth,  sand,  or  gravel.  Pear 
trees,  on  the  contrary,  require  rich  soil." 

I  was  struck  with  the  tameness  of  several  little 
animals  and  birds,  which  I  have  elsewhere  found 
quite  wild  and  shy.  A  squirrel,  for  instance,  sat 
almost  within  our  reach,  eating  a  nut,  and  hearing  us 
talk,  without  the  least  indication  of  fear.  The  birds 
hopped  about,  singing  their  wild  notes,  as  if  uncon 
scious  of  our  presence.  A  brood  of  quails  had  ac 
tually  been  hatched  between  the  house  and  the  gate, 
in  the  hedge  that  lines  the  carriage-way  to  the  door. 
I  inquired  why  this  was  so ;  he  said,  "  during  the 
whole  time  I  have  been  there  I  have  endeavored  to 
cultivate  their  acquaintance,  and  have  never  permitted 
their  nests  to  be  disturbed,  nor  do  I  allow  guns  to  be 
fired  on  the  premises,  nor  sticks  or  stones  to  be 
thrown  at  them,  nor  anything  done  that  would  frighten 
them  away.  They  seem  to  know  where  they  are 
well  treated,  and  come  with  the  seasons  to  enjoy  my 
protection." 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  ramble,  I  came  to 
the  spot  on  "  Gotham  Hill,"  where  lies  buried  a 
famous  horse,  owned  in  his  lifetime  by  Mr.  Webster. 


FAMOUS    HORSE.  129 


The  horse  was  remarkable  for  his  speed  as  a  travel 
ler,  and  was  therefore  properly  named  "  Steamboat." 
At  his  death,  Mr.  Fletcher  Webster — now  in  China — 
erected  a  monument  to  perpetuate  his  memory. 

The  crest  on  the  stone,  is  a  horse's  head,  and 
underneath  is  inscribed  the  following  epitaph : 

"Hicjacet 

Equus  celeberrimua 

DANIEL  WEBSTEB'S 

1  Steamboat  J  Vocafrus, 

Obiit  Nov.  3, 1838. 

Siste,  viator,  major  te  viator  hie  siste." 

This  epitaph,  translated,  is  as  follows :  "  Here 
lies  Daniel  Webster's  celebrated  horse  called  '  Steam 
boat.'  Died  Nov.  3,  1838.  Stop  traveller  ;  a  greater 
traveller  than  you  stops  here." 

Where  is  the  man,  if  ever  an  owner  of  a  noble 
horse,  who  does  not  look  back  to  his  death  with  re 
gret,  and  is  not  willing  to  pay  a  slight  tribute  to  his 
memory  ? 

Returning  from  our  stroll,  Mr.  Webster  and  my 
self,  with  the  two  young  ladies,  taking  the  horses  and 
carriage,  drove  to  the  fish-house.  The  Comet  lay 
about  eight  miles  from  the  shore  on  the  smooth  sea, 
where  we  imagined  the  contending  sportsmen,  with 
Captain  Nicholas  and  his  men  to  keep  the  tally,  were 
'•  pulling  in  "  the  codfish  and  haddock  to  their  hearts' 
content.  A  beautiful  bay,  a  good  boat,  excellent 
fishing  tackle,  and  the  fish  leaping  from  the  water  as 
if  anxious  to  be  caught,  were  all  before  us. 

Seeing  everything  to  tempt  us  into  imitation  of 
VOL.  n.  6* 


130  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER, 

our  friends  on  board  the  Comet,  we  could  not  suffer 
the  opportunity  to  pass,  without  "  throwing  a  line  or 
two,"  and  we  proposed  to  the  ladies,  to  join  us  in  the 
sport.  Commodore  Peterson  was  there,  and  the 
Signet  was  brought  frora  her  moorings  to  the  steps 
descending  to  the  water.  Everything  being  ready, 
we  went  aboard,  and  rowed  to  the  grounds  where 
perch  and  the  smaller  codfish  abound,  and  where  we 
cast  anchor. 

The  great  expounder  of  the  Constitution,  now 
taught  the  young  ladies  old  Izaak  Walton's  art. 
Without  the  knowledge  of  any  art,  they  well  knew 
how  to  be  fishers  of  men,  but  they  had  never  before 
essayed  to  fish  among  the  finny  tribe. 

From  such  a  teacher  the  art  was  soon  acquired  ; 
and  no  sooner  had  the  tempting  bait  of  my  fair  friend, 
who  had  stood  with  me  on  the  peak  of  Holyoke,  been 
thrown  in  the  crystal  element,  than  it  was  caught — 
(fortunate  fish  !  who  did  not  envy  you  ?) — and  while 
she  was  "  playing  the  codfish  in,"  the  other  lady  on 
the  other  side  of  the  boat  was  equally  successful.  To 
watch  the  ladies  as  they,  with  sparkling  eyes  amid  the 
highest  excitement,  drew  their  leaping  prisoners  to 
the  boat,  and  then  to  aid  them  in  securing  their  prizes, 
were  to  me  more  pleasurable  that  to  catch  them  my 
self,  much  as  I  love  the  sport.  Thus  the  fun  began, 
and  for  an  hour  it  went  on,  keeping  the  Commodore 
baiting  the  hooks,  taking  off  the  fish,  and  shaking  his 
sides  with  laughter  to  see  how  much  it  was  enjoyed. 
At  length  the  Commodore  hoisted  sail,  Mr.  Webster 
taking  the  helm,  and  we  were  wafted  swiftly  by  the 


POINT    FOR    TAKING    THE    BEST    VIEW.  131 

beautiful  islands  and  fields  which  are  found  in,  or  bor 
dering  upon,  this  romantic  stream. 

We  may  search  poetry  or  prose  in  vain  to  find  any 
description  of  the  pleasure  of  sailing  which  exceeds 
what  we  felt  and  enjoyed  on  that  memorable  occasion. 
If  perchance  Mr.  Webster  is  ever  placed  at  the  helm 
of  a  mightier  ship,  may  he  steer  her  with  equal  skill 
amid  the  rocks  and  shoals  laid  down  in  the  chart  of 
her  voyage. 

Resuming  the  carriage,  we  drove  to  the  top  of  the 
hill,  where  stood,  till  lately,  an  observatory,  to  which 
thousands  resorted  to  admire  the  magnificent  scenery 
nature  has  there  spread  out  to  view.  As  the  carriage 
emerged  from  the  grove,  through  which  we  reached 
the  summit,  so  that  the  whole  of  the  picture  was  pre 
sented  to  the  eye,  the  question  often  asked — "  What 
induced  Mr.  Webster  to  retire  to  Marshfield  ?"  was 
answered  to  my  entire  satisfaction.  He  came  to  oc 
cupy  this  spot  because  the  hand  of  nature  had  adapted 
it  exactly  to  his  taste.  If  there  is  a  place  on  earth 
calculated  to  entice  such  a  man  from  the  turmoil  of 
life  to  its  more  quiet  shades,  it  is  this. 

The  chiefest  attraction  is  the  ocean.  As  we  stood 
on  the  corner  of  the  hill  facing  the  sea,  looking  from 
the  right  all  round  in  front  to  the  left,  the  eye  rang 
ing  a  complete  semicircle,  we  had  as  fine  a  view  of  the 
ocean  as  can  anywhere  be  found.  Ships  of  all  sizes, 
some  near  and  some  almost  lost  in  the  dim  blue  dis 
tance,  were  gallantly  ploughing  the  main. 

From  that  vast  expanse  came  cool  invigorating 
breezes  to  fan  our  cheeks,  and  sport  with  the  ringlets 
of  the  ladies.  Before  us,  stretching  from  our  feet 


132  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

down  the  declivity  across  the  plain  to  the  water's 
edge,  lay  the  farm,  embracing  some  twelve  or  thirteen 
hundred  acres,  with  its  abundant  fields  of  corn  or 
other  luxuriant  crops,  its  well  filled  barns,  thriving  or 
chards,  green  pastures,  and  high-bred  cattle. 

In  a  central  position,  surrounded  by  trees,  gar 
dens  and  out-houses,  and  adjacent  to  a  fishpond  on 
an  extensive  lawn,  stands  the  dwelling.  It  was  built 
in  olden  times,  but  has  recently  been  enlarged  and 
greatly  improved.  The  style  is  what  is  called  Eliza 
bethan.  Few  houses  in  this  country,  constructed  for 
convenience  rather  than  for  display,  are  more  to  be 
admired  than  this.  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  details 
of  the  picture  before  us,  but  suffice  it  to  say,  that  any 
man  knowing  Mr.  Webster  as  well  as  I  do,  and  seeing 
what  has  brought  him  here,  will  not  only  cease  to 
wonder  why  he  came,  but  will  wonder  what  can  allure 
him  hence.  We  returned  from  our  drive,  and  at  din- 
net  met  the  fishermen.  We  heard  them  relate  the 
incidents  of  the  day. 

Taking  into  account  the  number  and  size  of  the 
fish  caught,  they  both  regard  it  as  an  even  match,  and 
neither  boasts  of  victory.  But  the  sport  is  not  over; 
the  contest  is  to  be  resumed  to-morrow,  and,  if  pos 
sible,  with  increased  excitement. 

Yours  truly. 


TRIP    VIA    NEWPORT.  133 


TRIP   VIA   NEWPORT MR.    WEBSTER   WITH   AN    EVENING    AT    MARSH- 
FIELD MUSIC. 

MAESHFIELD,  August,  1848. 

I  left  Newport  before  the  grand  fancy  ball,  which 
is  to  be  the  closing  scene  of  this  season's  melo-drama, 
and  hastened  here,  touching  Boston  on  my  way.  A 
sail  up  the  bay  from  Newport  to  Fall  River,  and  a 
ride  thence  on  the  railway,  must  always  be  an  agree 
able  pastime,  but  my  trip  on  this  occasion  was  doubly 
so,  for  I  was  in  the  most  agreeable  company.  Three 
Boston  ladies  so  far  beguiled  my  attention,  that  I 
found  myself  at  that  city  before  I  thought  half  time 
enough  had  elapsed.  All  I  remember  seeing  on  the 
way  were  some  handsome  landscapes,  some  pretty 
islands,  a  few  nourishing  hamlets,  and  a  great  many 
smiles.  Of  Boston  I  shall  not  say  much.  The 
hotels  were  crowded,  and  the  accommodations  afford 
ed  to  a  sportsman  and  his  dog  were  not  those  of  which 
I  am  disposed  to  boast.  When  I  speak  of  my  dog, 
by  the  way,  don't  imagine  he  is  the  same  Cato  so 
much  petted  during  my  early  travelling  and  sporting. 
His  days  have  been  numbered.  This  is  Cato  the 
younger.  Instead  of  spending  a  day,  as  I  was  wont 
to  do,  coming  here  on  foot,  from  Boston,  that  I  might 
have  a  crack  at  woodcock  and  other  birds  along  the 
path,  I  took  the  cars  on  the  Old  Colony  road,  with 
my  fishing-tackle,  dog  and  gun,  and  was  brought  to 
Kingston,  seven  miles  distant  from  this,  with  the 
speed  of  steam.  I  wish  Capt.  Miles  Standish — that 
great  captain  among  the  pilgrims  of  the  May  Flower 
— could  have  seen  us  coming. 


134  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Marshfield  appears  better,  far  better  than  ever. 
All  things,  notwithstanding  the  prolonged  absence  of 
the  great  agriculturist,  who  expends  annually  so 
much  skill,  are  in  good  repair,  and  here  "  two  blades 
of  grass  "  are  made  to  grow  where  "  only  one  grew 
before." 

When  I  arrived  at  the  mansion  of  my  friend,  I 
found  no  one  in  except  his  faithful  George,  who  made 
me  feel  at  home.  It  was  towards  the  close  of  the 
day,  and  the  cool  breezes  from  the  ocean  had  sprung 
up  to  fan  the  face  of  nature.  The  herds  of  oxen,  of 
cows,  and  of  younger  cattle,  which  the  heat  of  the 
day  had  driven  to  the  shades,  were  then  venturing 
forth ;  the  bleating  flocks  were  visible,  and  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  farm  were  astir.  There  was  an 
enchantment  in  the  scene  before  me,  which  the  hot 
bricks  and  dusty  streets  of  a  crowded  town  rarely 
present  to  the  mind.  The  ladies  had  gone  out  for  a 
drive  ;  I  entered  my  room  to  await  their  return. 

From  what  I  had  heard,  I  expected  to  find  Mr. 
Webster  confined  to  his  house  with  illness,  brought 
on  by  severe  labours  at  Washington,  and  the  journeys 
hither  and  thither  during  the  late  oppressively  hot 
weather ;  but  in  a  few  moments  after  my  arrival,  my 
apprehensions  were  dispelled  by  his  cheering  voice 
calling  me  out  (for  George  had  told  him  I  was  here) 
to  see  the  result  of  his  afternoon's  sport,  in  the  shape 
of  eight  or  ten  blue  fish,  which  he  had  just  brought 
from  Duxbury  Bay.  There  they  were,  on  the  clean 
straw  in  his  buggy  wagon,  a  sight  gratifying  to  a 
fisherman,  and  giving  me  no  very  distant  idea  of  a 
delicious  chowder.  He  is  not  sick.  His  iron  consti- 


MR.  WEBSTER    WELL.  135 


tution  manfully  sustains  him  against  the  ravages  of 
time,  under  the  most  incessant  toil,  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  heart-rending  afflictions.  Let  it  be  the 
prayer  of  his  countrymen  that  his  health  may  not  be 
impaired,  and  that  the  years  on  years  to  which  he  is 
entitled  before  old  age  comes,  and  his  undiminished 
intellect,  may  be  devoted  to  his  country  during  the 
perils  through  which  she  too  often  passes.  While  the 
governments  of  the  old  world,  touched  by  the  potent 
influence  of  the  new,  are  crumbling  to  atoms,  it  is  of 
vital  importance  that  he,  who  has  so  often  averted 
imminent  dangers,  should  be  on  the  watchtower  of 
the  exposed  battlement. 

In  a  day  or  two  he  will  meet  his  friends  and 
neighbours  on  his  own  farm,  under  the  shade  of  his 
own  trees,  and  give  them  the  benefit  of  his  wisdom 
and  experience,  by  suggestions  touching  the  coming 
election.  He  is  true  to  his  country  and  his  party ; 
indeed  he  cannot  be  otherwise,  and  he  yields  to  no 
complaints,  to  no  unworthy  motives,  but  on  the  con 
trary,  is  governed  by  the  loftiest  patriotism,  and  will 
now  and  always  do  his  duty  to  both.  A  whisper  at 
variance  with  this  is  a  gross  slander.  He  does  not 
always  follow  blindly  this  or  that  particular  leader  in 
the  party,  but  acting  on  his  own  judgment  and  expe 
rience,  he  is  always  consistent,  always  right. 

After  Mr.  Webster  had  given  some  directions 
about  his  farming  affairs,  I  joined  him  in  his  library. 
He  bade  me  welcome  to  Marshfield.  The  many 
pleasant  scenes — field  sports,  fishing  and  social  amuse 
ments  through  which  it  has  been  my  good  fortune,  as 
well  as  great  pleasure,  to  pass  with  him  here  and 


136  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

elsewhere,  and  of  which  I  have  given  you  some 
accounts  in  years  gone  by,  are  the  gems  of  my  life. 
Arrangements  are  already  made  for  the  cheerful  repe 
tition  of  some  of  them,  while  I  am  in  this  vicinity. 
The  ladies  returned  and  are  with  us. 

The  pleasures  of  the  day  and  many  agreeable 
incidents  being  talked  over,  supper  was  announced, 
and  after  supper  each  took  himself  to  that  which  was 
most  agreeable.  I  came  back  to  the  library,  and 
while  looking  over  a  large  number  of  books,  ancient 
and  modern,  as  I  went  from  case  to  case,  I  was  in 
structed  and  amused  by  an  account  of  the  sale  of  the 
copyright  of  "Paradise  Lost."  Milton,  it  seems, 
contracted  to  sell  it  to  one  Samuel  Simmons,  on  the 
following  terms:  £5  to  be  paid  down,  £5  to  be  paid 
on  the  sale  of  thirteen'hundred  copies,  £5  on  the  sale 
of  thirteen  hundred  copies  of  the  second  edition, 
and  £5  on  the  sale  of  the  same  number  of  the 
third.  Only  fifteen  hundred  of  each  to  be  printed. 
By  his  own  receipt,  dated  April  26,  1669,  it  appears 
lie  received  two  instalments — £10  in  all.  The  other 
£10  were  received  by  his  widow.  Mr.  Simmons  sold 
it  to  one  Brabanzon  Aylmer  for  £25.  It  was  after 
wards  sold  to  Jacob  Tonson,  who  made  a  fortune  from 
it.  The  evening  has  been  cheerful.  I  shall  now  re 
tire  to  dream,  if  I  can,  how  rich  I  should  be  with  all 
the  money  that  has  since  been  made  from  the  selling 
of  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost." 

I  wish  I  could  give  you  a  true  idea  of  one  of 
nature's  concerts  or  operas  as  I  hear  it  at  this  moment. 
The  ocean  on  one  side,  with  its  continual  roar,  makes 
music  as  deep  toned  and  solemn  as  the  fullest  note  of 


SHOOTS    A    TEAL.  137 


Beneventano  ;  a  thousand  insects  are  rendering  vocal 
every  bush  and  plant  on  the  lawn,  and  on  the  border 
of  the  fish-pond  on  the  other  side.  No  Italian  chorus  I 
ever  heard  displayed  finer  voices.  In  the  midst  of  all 
these  comes  the  whip-poor-will^  making  the  welkin 
ring  with  her  wild  notes,  first  on  one  side  and  then 
on  the  other,  like  Trufli,  the  prima  donna^  in  one  of 
her  exciting  scenas.  What  a  glorious  serenade  to 
welcome  slumber,  and  lull  me  while  I  sleep. 

Yours,  truly. 


MR.  WEBSTER  SHOOTS   A   TEAL HE    RAMBLES   OVER    HIS    FIELDS   AND 

TALKS  OF  AGRICULTURE,  AND  HIS  CATTLE  AND  SHEEP. 

MARSHFIELD,  August,  1848. 

"  But  yonder  comes  the  powerful  King  of  day, 
Kejoicing  in  the  East." 

Just  as  I  sit  down  to  write  the  sun  is  rising,  and 
half  his  circle  is  seen  from  my  window  above  the  sur 
face  of  the  ocean.  What  a  magnificent  sight !  How 
tame  all  the  colors  which  art  has  put  on  canvas,  when 
compared  with  the  brilliancy  of  the  scene  before  me. 
Come,  ye  citizens  of  Gotham,  and  see  what  ye  rarely 
ever  see  in  your  lives — a  glorious  sunrise. 

Bang!  I  hear  the  report  of  a  gun.  What  has 
fallen? 

On  going  to  my  window,  I  saw  Mr.  Webster,  to 
wards  the  ocean,  standing  on  the  point  of  the  bay 
which  stretches  inland  to  his  garden  wall,  with  a  gun 
in  his  hand,  the  smoke  rising  above  his  head,  and  one 
of  his  men  bringing  to  him  a  bird.  He  has  shot  a 


138  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

plump  teal,  one  of  the  numerous  kinds  of  wild  fowl  on 
this  part  of  the  coast,  which  had  ventured  thus  late 
in  the  morning  to  linger  too  near  the  premises,  not 
knowing  that  the  sun  never  rises  to  find  the  owner 
asleep.  For  this  unseasonable  contempt  of  danger  on 
its  part  we  will  taste  the  bird 'at  dinner.  So  says 
Mr.  Webster. 

Excuse  me  for  an  hour,  for  I  am  called  to  take  a 
ramble  in  the  fields  with  boots  proof  against  the 
morning  dews,  to  use  Mr.  Webster's  words,  "  to  spy 
out  the  nakedness  of  the  land."  I  don't  think  we  shall 
find  much  nakedness  to  spy  out.  *  *  * 

I  have  returned  from  a  delightful  walk  with  far 
mer  Webster.  Thousands  have  seen  Mr.  Webster  in 
the  Capitol,  where  listening  Senators  were  hearing 
the  wisdom  that  fell  from  his  lips ;  tens  of  thousands 
have  heard  him  at  the  bar  demanding  justice,  excul 
pating  innocence,  and  expounding  the  law ;  hundreds 
of  thousands  "with  up-turned  faces,"  have  been  charm 
ed  by  his  eloquence  in  popular  assemblies ;  and  mil 
lions  have  read  his  speeches,  sent  by  reporters  to  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world ;  but  comparatively  few 
have  seen  and  heard  farmer  Webster,  among  his  cat 
tle  and  sheep,  his  crops  and  forests,  the  products  of  his 
own  care  and  labor.  Whenever  he  is  to  speak  on  any 
of  the  above  mentioned  occasions,  short-hand  writers 
are  sent  to  take  down  his  words,  so  that  no  idea  of 
his  may  be  lost. 

Now  if  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  should  send  re 
porters  to  note  down  what  he  says  touching  their 
most  useful  and  indispensable  occupation,  whenever 
he  has  occasion,  they  would  be  enriched,  as  the  earth 


TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE.  139 

is  by  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile.  In  the  fields,  walk 
ing  through  his  crops,  among  his  cattle  and  his  sheep, 
each  one  suggesting  a  topic,  he  surpasses  even  himself. 
But  alas  !  of  what  use  is  so  much  wisdom  to  me  in  a 
chase  for  a  fox,  or  in  shooting  a  woodcock,  or  in  an 
gling  for  a  trout  ?  Were  I  a  farmer,  it  would  be 
otherwise.  You  may  become  one,  therefore  I  will 
give  you  the  benefit  of  what  I  saw. 

We  took  a  good  look  at  the  potatoes.  If  there 
is  any  crop  worthy  of  attention,  and  indeed  abso 
lutely  requiring  it,  Mr.  Webster  says  it  is  the  po 
tato  crop,  and  especially  so  when  it  is  liable  to  that 
fatal  disease  by  which  it  is  destroyed  in  so  many 
countries.  He  has  this  season  produced  a  large  quan 
tity,  chiefly  of  two  kinds,  the  mercers  and  the  pink 
eyes.  He  has  never  had  a  finer  crop.  He  planted 
them  early,  and  they  are  ripe  early.  Many  are  al 
ready  harvested,  and  all  have  been  ready  for  the  har 
vest  some  time.  They  grow,  he  says,  to  a  large  size, 
with  but  few  in  a  hill,  and  without  any  appearance  of 
disease.  He  planted  the  seed  on  a  light,  loamy  soil, 
which  he  prepared  with  a  sub-soil  plough,  and  ma 
nured  with  a  fish  called  manhaden,  and  a  sea-weed 
called  kelp,  taken  from  the  ocean  bordering  on  his 
farm.  For  this  crop  he  uses  no  barn-yard  manure, 
for  where  it  is  scattered  on  the  land,  weeds  will  grow. 
At  a  proper  time  his  men  will  take  these  potatoes  to 
Boston,  where  their  good  quality  will  bring  for  them 
a  good  price. 

We  looked  at  the  turnips.  He  has  one  field  of 
ten  acres,  the  best  he  has  ever  produced.  He  said 
he  chooses  for  this  crop  also,  a  light  soil,  and  ex- 


140  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

eludes  from  it  all  barn-yard  manure.  Manure  fresh 
from  the  sea  is  exactly  the  thing  for  turnips.  All 
succulent  crops  delight  in  it.  To-morrow  he  will 
show  me  how  and  where  he  obtains  the  weed,  and 
how  he  uses  it. 

We  next  looked  at  a  field  of  five  acres  of  beets, 
growing  by  the  side  of  the  turnips  in  a  most  luxuriant 
manner.  His  preparation  for  this  crop  was  like  that 
of  the  potato  and  turnip,  consequently  the  field  is  free 
from  weeds.  After  the  seed  is  once  planted,  he  has 
nothing  to  do,  but  wait  for  the  harvest  to  come. 
Mr.  Webster  has  a  strict  regard  for  what  is  called  a 
rotation  in  crops,  and  generally  makes  his  turnips  and 
beets  follow  a  crop  of  wheat  or  oats.  These  green 
crops,  he  says,  do  not  exhaust  the  soil,  but  bring  to  it 
as  much  annually  as  they  take  away. 

In  former  letters  I  have  given  you  his  views,  the 
result  of  his  reading,  his  reflection  and  his  experience 
on  this  interesting  topic. 

His  corn  is  growing  finely  and  promises  an  abun 
dant  harvest ;  and,  as  we  passed  over  the  stubble 
fields,  I  could  see  there  had  been  an  extraordinary 
yield.  Mr.  Webster  remarked  that  in  this  respect, 
t*  Nature  had  been  bountiful."  His  barns  are  all  full. 

Among  his  cattle  he  apparently  takes  great  de 
light.  He  has  imported  some  of  the  finest  breeds  in 
England  and  Scotland.  His  Devonshires,  Durhams 
and  Ayrshires  are  all  noble  specimens.  He  almost 
always  has  some  prodigies  in  nature.  Sometimes  an 
ox,  sometimes  a  cow ;  but  this  year  he  has  a  remarka 
ble  pair  of  twin  steers,  yearlings,  exactly  alike,  and 
as  large  as  a  common  three-year  old. 


A    COMMITTEE    CALLS    ON    HIM.  141 

His  sheep,  especially  the  South-Downs  and 
Cheviots,  are  the  finest  I  ever  saw,  and  I  presume 
they  are  not  excelled  by  any  in  this  country. 

Coming  through  the  lawn,  around  the  fresh  pond 
near  the  house,  I  saw  a  large  number  of  the  real 
Canada  geese.  He  says  they  feed  on  grass,  and 
flourish  best  when  left  alone,  where  they  have  access 
to  water  and  islands  beyond  the  leap  of  a  fox.  Here 
they  have  just  such  an  island. 

You  must  excuse  me  again,  as  I  am  going  to  take 
a  ride  with  a  lady.  The  "  neighing  and  pawing 
steeds  "  are  at  the  door. 

Yours  truly. 


A  COMMITTEE   CALLS    ON    MR.    WEBSTER HE   HAS   A  PRESENT  FROM 

AFAR, 

MARSIIFIELD,  August,  1848. 

*  *  *  On  our  return  home  from  the  ride  with 
Miss  B.  we  found  the  defender  of  the  Constitution 
seated  under  the  shade  of  the  great  elm  tree,  in  front 
of  his  house,  with  several  eminent  men,  his  guests, 
talking  gravely  and  wisely  upon  some  political  topics 
of  deep  concern  to  the  country.  I  listened  awhile 
and  was  greatly  instructed,  but  under  his  own  tree 
Mr.  Webster  would  rather  talk  on  any  other  subject. 
Some  gentlemen  had  come  from  a  distance  to  see 
him  on  these  subjects,  but  as  soon  as  courtesy  would 
permit  it,  topics  more  agreeable  were  introduced. 
While  under  the  trees,  a  messenger  brought  him  a 
walking-staff  with  this  inscription  :  "  Constantinople, 


142  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

September,  1846.  The  Honorable  Daniel  Webster, 
Marshfield,  Massachusetts,  United  States  of  America, 
for  whom  this  Daphne-wood  stick  was  cut  on  the  bor 
ders  of  the  Bosphorus,  where  Mahomet  II.  and  the 
Greeks  had  their  last  field  battle  before  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  latter."  It  was  a  present  from  a 
clergyman.  Mr.  Webster,  in  September,  1846,  proba 
bly  little  thought  that  any  one  so  far  off  was  thinking 
to  compliment  him  in  this  manner.  His  premises 
are  greatly  occupied  by  mementoes  from  all  sorts  of 
persons,  in  all  the  States  and  Kingdoms  with  which 
we  have  intercourse. 

The  house  is  filled  with  guests,  and  I  see  another 
carriage  full  driving  up  the  glen.  I  must  dress  for 
dinner. 

Yours  truly. 


MB.    WEBSTER    PREPARES    FOR  A    SPEECH HIS    DRESS HIS   VIEWS 

ON     THESE    SUBJECTS DRIVES   OVER  HIS   FARM,    AND    TALKS     OP 

AGRICULTURE. 

MAKSHTIELD,  August  — ,  1848. 

Long  before  the  sun  rose,  Mr.  Webster  was  in 
his  library,  pondering  doubtless  on  what  he  should 
say  to  his  neighbors,  who  are  to  meet  him  to-morrow; 
in  other  words,  he  is  going  to  make  a  speech.  Al 
though  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  he  could  draw 
from  his  immense  storehouse  on  the  spur  of  any  mo 
ment  sufficient  to  give  them  tolerable  satisfaction, 
and  to  produce  the  desired  effect  without  much  think 
ing,  no  man  is  more  ready — such  is  never  his  practice 


PREPARES    FOR    A    SPEECH.  143 

He  would  sooner  appear  before  them  half -clothed 
than  half-prepared  :  and  he  has  told  me  he  would  as 
soon  stand  up  and  tell  them  that  he  had  garments 
enough  at  home,  but  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to 
put  them  on,  as  to  tell  them  he  could  have  made  a 
satisfactory  speech,  perhaps,  if  he  had  taken  the  re 
quisite  pains.  He  never  turns  off  his  hearers  by 
saying  he  throws  out  crude  thoughts  for  their  im 
provement  and  consideration,  in  which  there  may 
be  something  or  may  be  nothing.  All  the  thoughts 
he  throws  out  have  been  well  digested,  and  all  their 
bearings  and  soundings  have  been  carefully  ascer 
tained.  He  holds  it  disrespectful  in  a  high  degree  to 
an  audience  that  will  listen  to  him,  and  perhaps  come 
a  great  distance  to  do  so,  "  to  make  an  apology  in 
stead  of  a  speech."  Besides,  what  he  is  to  say  to 
morrow,  and,  indeed,  what  he  says  on  almost  all  occa 
sions,  is  virtually  said  to  the  whole  country.  Several 
reporters  are  already  on  the  ground,  —  short -hand 
writers,  to  send  forth,  on  the  wings  of  lightning,  each 
word  as  soon  as  it  shall  be  spoken.  And  he  knows, 
too,  that  each  word  will  be  weighed  in  a  thousand 
scales,  and,  if  found  wanting,  complaints  will  be 
made. 

I  have  never  heard  of  a  man  who  would  take  more 
pains  to  meet  the  just  expectations  of  those  who  are 
to  hear  him,  or  be  more  particular  in  showing  a  pro 
per  respect  to  their  opinions,  taste,  and  their  conve 
nience,  than  Mr.  Webster.  He  even  takes  care  that 
he  is  dressed  in  a  becoming  manner.  Whoever  saw 
him  in  Court,  in  the  Senate,  at  dinner,  at  any  party 
in  the  presence  of  ladies,  or  on  any  occasion,  without 


144  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

discovering  that  he  was  dressed  in  a  manner  pecu 
liarly  proper  ?  His  uniform  for  the  Senate  and  the 
Bar  is,  a  blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons,  a  buff-colored 
vest,  and  black  pantaloons.  It  is  not  that  he  fancies 
he  appears  personally  better  in  one  suit  than  another, 
but  because  he  will,  on  all  occasions,  show,  by  some 
mark  of  attention,  that  he  omits  nothing  that  is  due 
to  those  before  whom  it  is  his  duty  or  his  pleasure  to 
present  himself.  If  he  does  not  show  this  respect, 
it  is  because  some  circumstance  prevents  him.  Hence 
it  is,  that  whenever  time  is  given,  he  goes  before  his 
hearers  with  every  topic  well  considered,  with  every 
mark  of  respect. 

He  never  writes  out  a  speech,  which  he  over  and 
over  again  scratches  and  amends,  and  finally  commits 
to  memory  in  hcec  verba,  as  many  speakers  do,  but 
he  prepares  himself  by  thinking.  The  whole  mass  of 
matter  pertaining  to  any  subject  he  puts  into  the 
crucible  of  his  brain,  and  there  separates  the  dross 
from  the  pure  gold,  which  he  forges  into  links  and 
forms  a  chain. 

It  is  his  custom  to  do  this  great  business  of 
thinking  at  an  early  hour,  before  any  of  the  stirring 
events  of  the  day,  or  matters  of  common  concern  come 
to  occupy  or  divert  his  attention.  I  saw  him  this 
morning  in  his  library,  surrounded  by  those  countless 
volumes  which  contain  the  thoughts  and  learning  of 
all  preceding  ages,  with  one  hand  in  his  vest  pocket, 
standing  erect,  and  his  countenance  illuminated,  as 
if  he  was  communing  with  some  master  spirit.  On 
the  table  lay  the  half-sheet  of  paper  on  which  he  had 
noted  down  the  index  of  the  thoughts  he  was  revolv- 


DRIVE    OVER    HIS    FARM.  145 

ing.  If  Healy  will  transfer  to  canvas  a  correct  por 
trait,  as  I  saw  him,  with  all  his  surroundings,  and 
catch  a  gleam  of  the  inspiration  which  seemed,  at 
that  time,  to  have  touched  his  mind,  I  will  pay  him 
any  price  he  may  ask.  Harding,  the  great  artist,  has 
done  it  to  perfection,  except,  in  his  portrait,  the  right 
hand  touches  the  table. 

After  breakfast,  Mr.  Webster  and  myself  drove 
to  the  residence  of  his  son,  Mr.  Fletcher  Webster,  a 
pleasant  place  on  this  farm,  nearer  the  sea  than  the 
mansion-house,  and  paid  our  regards  to  his  lady,  and 
for  a  while  played  with  his  children. 

In  driving  and  riding  about  I  had  seen  scores  of 
wagons  and  carts  loaded  with  an  article  which  had 
never  before  arrested  my  attention.  I  asked  what  it 
was.  Mr.  Webster  said  it  was  kelp,  a  sea-weed,  to 
which  he  alluded  yesterday.  It  is  used  by  himself 
and  neighbors  to  fertilize  their  farms,  and  one  load 
of  it,  he  says,  is  equal  to  three  of  manure  taken  from 
barn-yards.  In  some  countries  it  is  used  in  making 
glass.  I  was  curious  to  know  all  about  it.  He  said, 
previous  to  his  coming  to  Marshfield,  it  had  never, 
to  his  knowledge,  been  used  here,  though  thousands 
of  tons  were  thrown  on  the  shore  annually,  to  be  de 
composed,  and  washed  back  again  to  the  deep.  It 
had  long  been  used  advantageously  in  Ireland  and  on 
the  coast  of  Scotland.  He  drove  me  to  the  beach, 
that  I  might  see  where  the  bounteous  ocean  deposited 
so  much  real  wealth.  There  it  lay,  in  an  extended 
pile,  at  high-water  mark,  from  which  the  waves  had 
receded,  leaving  it  in  a  convenient  position  to  be 
taken  away,  and  there  could  not  be  less  than  one 

VOL.  II.  7 


146  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

thousand  tons  or  loads.  It  has  a  greenish  appear 
ance,  and  is,  beyond  all  doubt,  very  rich  in  fertilizing 
qualities.  In  ancient  times,  when  Heaven  rained 
down  manna,  there  was  no  more  cause  for  gratitude 
than  this  bounteous  gift. 

Between  the  beach  and  the  uplands  a  small  river 
runs,  some  distance  partly  parallel  to  the  shore  of  the 
ocean,  and,  without  a  bridge,  would  prevent  commu 
nication.  Mr.  Webster  and  the  Hon.  Gershon  B. 
Weston,  a  rich  and  liberal  citizen  of  Duxbury,  headed 
a  subscription  to  build  one,  and  thereby  afforded  the 
inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  farms  an  oppor 
tunity  to  use  it.  A  greater  public  benefit  can  scarcely 
be  conferred  than  to  disclose  such  a  source  of  wealth, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  open  the  way  to  its  general 
enjoyment. 

Having  seen  where  it  was  obtained,  we  drove  to 
that  part  of  his  farm  which  he  was  covering  with  it. 
After  spreading  it  carefully  and  evenly  over  the 
surface,  he  turns  it  deep  into  the  soil  by  plows,  each 
drawn  by  three  yoke  of  oxen,  in  its  fresh  state. 
There  his  men  were  at  work,  as  if  their  lives  depend 
ed  on  what  they  could  accomplish  in  a  short  time. 
He  says  this  plan  is  adopted  by  the  Kentish  and 
Suffolk  farmers,  and  many  of  the  Scotch,  and  he  has 
found  that  by  consigning  it  to  the  soil  as  soon  as  pos 
sible  after  it  comes  from  the  sea,  the  better  will  be 
its  effects.  After  the  salt  water  has  drained  from  the 
weeds,  and  a  partial  decomposition  has  taken  place, 
its  value  will  be  materially  diminished.  His  poorest 
lands,  those  that  have  been  worn  and  tilled  since  the 


TALKS    OF    AGRICULTURE1.  147 

Pilgrims  landed,  are  benefited  and  rendered  greatly 
productive  by  its  use. 

One  chief  excellence,  he  says,  this  manure  pos 
sesses  over  barn-yard,  and  which  he  highly  prizes,  is 
that  it  brings  with  it  no  noxious  weeds,  which  require 
vast  labor  to  destroy  them,  or  which  exhaust  the  land. 
It  freshens  and  endows  the  soil  with  capacity  to  pro 
duce  the  most  luxuriant  crops.  All  his  lands  in  which 
he  produces  potatoes,  turnips,  and  beets,  are  ferti 
lized  with  kelp.  No  plant,  he  says,  delights  in  it  so 
much  as  the  potato.  Hence  one  of  the  reasons  for  his 
having  so  fine  a  crop,  always  free  from  the  disease  so 
destructive  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

In  rating  one  load  of  this  at  a  value  equal  to  three 
of  the  other  kind,  he  thinks  he  underrates  it.  Al 
though  these  green  manures  have  been  in  use  since 
man  began  to  till  the  land,  they  have  not  been  syste 
matically  used.  The  idea  of  piling  them  up  and 
leaving  them  to  decompose  before  using  them,  he  en 
tirely  repudiates,  and  shows  beyond  ill  doubt  the 
advantage  of  using  not  only  this,  but  all  green 
manures,  in  their  freshest  possible  state. 

While  upon  our  morning  excursion,  we  went  to 
the  top  of  Bascom  Hill,  which  is  one  of  the  highest 
promontories  of  his  farm,  and  sat  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  breeze,  in  the  shade  of  a  rude  summer-house 
erected  for  that  purpose.  From  this  point,  farmer 
Webster  can  view  his  whole  plantation.  On  its  sum 
mit  has  been  also  planted  a  flag-staff  a  hundred  feet 
high,  with  halliards  for  hoisting  and  lowering  the 
American  flag.  I  have  spoken  of  this  on  another 
occasion. 


148  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  on  every  important 
occasion,  its  stars  and  stripes  are  flung  to  the  wind, 
and  can  be  hailed  by  the  mariner  as  he  approaches 
the  shores  of  the  greatest  nation  on  earth. 

We  have  made  up  our  minds,  to  use  the  language 
of  Mr.  Webster,  that  "  there  are  some  codfish  off  in 
the  vicinity  of  South  Kock,  waiting  to  see  us ;  and 
we  are  not  the  men  to  disappoint  them." 

Our  men  are  carefully  selected.  Our  bait  and 
fishing-tackle  are  ready,  and  we  believe  our  sport  will 
be  good. 

Yours  truly. 


NOTES   OF  A  TIIIP   TO    NEW  HAMPSHIRE MR.  WEBSTER    IN   COURT A 

LETTER  ABOUT  HIMSELF VERSES,  &C. 

BOSTON,  Oct.  1849. 

After  having  spent  a  week  at  Marshfield  in  fish 
ing,  sailing,  driving  on  the  beach,  shooting,  and  in  all 
the  delights  of  that  charming  resort,  we  changed  the 
scene. 

Lady  Emily  Stuart  Wortley,  a  daughter  of  the 
Duke  of  Rutland,  who  is  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Web 
ster  ;  Governor  Everett,  Mr.  Gray,  of  Boston,  and  a 
number  of  others,  whom  Mr.  Webster  esteemed  high 
ly,  had  been  with  us,  and  the  time  passed  gayly.  I 
remember  no  week  replete  with  more  rational  enjoy 
ments,  All  persons  were  in  good  spirits. 

On  Saturday  night  Mr.  Webster  was  kind  enough 
to  say  to  me,  "  You  and  I  had  better  go  for  a  week 
or  ten  days  to  New  Hampshire,  where  it  is  still  more 


TRIP    TO    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  149 

quiet  than  it  is  here  ; "  and  at  the  same  time  he  smiled 
at  the  idea  that  Marshfield  was  under  such  circum 
stances  a  quiet  place.  I  speak  of  what  has  been  going 
on  out  of  doors,  in  the  fields,  on  the  highways,  and  on 
the  water.  No  one  present  will  forget  that  week. 

On  Monday  morning  early,  taking  with  us  two 
faithful  servants  from  Marshfield,  we  set  out  for 
Franklin,  the  home  of  his  childhood.  We  dined  in 
this  city  on  our  way,  and,  leaving  directly  after,  we 
were  at  the  old  homestead  at  an  early  hour  in  the 
evening.  The  old  doors  grated  on  the  hinges,  as  they 
were  opened  for  us.  The  house  is  not  occupied,  ex 
cept  when  he  goes  there,  and  that,  is  only  once,  or,  at 
most,  twice  a  year,  and  then  only  for  a  short  time. 
But  he  loves  to  go  there,  if  only  for  a  day. 

John  Taylor,  who  lives  in  the  large  farm-house 
near  by,  was  there,  and  another  servant  was  added  to 
the  number,  so  that  every  thing  wanted  for  our  hap 
piness  was  made  ready  at  once,  or  as  soon  as  the 
slightest  wish  was  expressed. 

There  we  lived,  eating  and  sleeping  when  we 
pleased,  and  enjoying  ourselves  as  we  pleased,  in  that 
really  quiet  place.  I  have  on  a  former  occasion  des 
cribed  this  farm. 

Mr.  Haddock,  his  distinguished  nephew,  came 
from  Dartmouth  college,  to  pay  Mr.  Webster  a  visit. 
He  brought  with  him  Mr.  Kimball, — who  has  written 
a  clever  book  about  Italy — and  they  made  the  time 
pass  very  agreeably ;  and  while  we  were  there,  a  large 
number  of  the  remote  kindred, — by  blood  and  mar 
riage — of  Mr.  Webster,  came  in  a  party  to  make  him 


150  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

a  visit.  All  rambled  over  the  fields  together.  They 
came  just  after  an  early  dinner,  and  stayed  to  tea. 
Mr.  Webster  was  cheerful,  and  happy  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  company  of  his  relations ;  he  took  pains 
to  make  them  happy,  and  all  carried  away  some  little 
memento  to  keep.  Hearing  he  was  there,  a  great 
many  young  gentlemen  and  ladies,  who  were  not  re 
lations,  came  in  couples  from  some  distance,  to  see  the 
great  defender  of  the  Constitution.  With  those  young 
people  he  was  social,  full  of  anecdotes,  and  as  playful 
as  the  youngest  of  the  party. 

Every  day  we  were  there,  the  weather  was  uncom 
monly  fine,  and  we  drove  over  every  road  in  that  vi 
cinity,  and  as  we  drove,  Mr.  Webster  talked.  Al 
most  every  brook,  tree,  rock,  mount,  valley,  plain, 
house,  or  building,  seemed  to  suggest  some  rich  anec 
dote,  which  he  told  in  his  happiest  manner.  He  point 
ed  out  the  place  of  his  birth,  his  marriage,  his  school- 
houses,  the  place  where  he  studied  the  law,  where  he 
began  to  practise  as  an  attorney,  &c.  The  anecdotes 
in  which  he  or  his  family  were  concerned,  were  full  of 
interest.  I  listened  attentively,  hoping  to  bear  them 
in  mind  ;  for  every  thing  concerning  him,  or  them,  will 
some  day  be  deeply  interesting  to  the  whole  civilized 
world.  He  called  often  to  pay  his  respects  to  his  old 
friends  and  neighbors,  hardly  passing  a  door.  They 
were  all  glad  to  see  him.  and  he  never  failed  to  speak 
cheerfully  and  encouragingly  to  all  we  met.  The 
events  of  his  youth  and  of  their  young  days  were  the 
topics  of  their  conversation. 

We  spent  some  time  every  afternoon  in  the  fields, 


IN    COURT.  151 


with  the  cattle  and  sheep.  He  designated  some  to  be 
sent  to  market,  for  they  were  fat  and  ready  for  the 
shambles ;  and  from  droves  passing  his  door,  from  the 
Canadas  towards  Boston,  he  purchased  others  to  re 
plenish  his  stock.  All  these  were  very  agreeable  in 
cidents,  and  happily  filled  up  the  time  we  passed. 

Having  remained  on  the  banks  of  the  Merrimac 
as  long  as  we  intended,  we  shut  up  the  old  mansion 
house,  witfi  its  precious  relicts  and  pleasant  associa 
tions.  Leaving  all  things  in  the  charge  of  his  faithful 
John  Taylor,  we  came  to  this  place,  where  Mr.  Web 
ster  is  concerned  as  counsel  in  an  important  lawsuit 
about  ready  for  trial.  He  is  still  a  hard-working 
man  in  his  profession.  He  looks  to  that  as  his  chief 
source  of  income,  though  he  has  other  sources. 

By  the  by,  speaking  of  lawsuits,  reminds  me  of  a 
letter  Mr.  Webster  wrote  last  winter,  while  trying  a 
cause — I  think  about  a  patent  for  a  water-wheel,  at 
all  events  there  was  something  in  it  about  a  wheel. 
Mr.  Taber  and  Mr.  Choate,  whom  Mr.  Webster  high 
ly  esteemed,  were  engaged  in  the  same  cause. 

The  letter  is  not,  of  course,  written  for  the  public 
eye ;  but  I  have  permission  to  use  it,  and  make  ex 
tracts  from  it.  You  will  see  from  its  half  serious  and 
half  ironical  character,  how  playful  he  can  be,  even 
while  sitting  at  the  bar  waiting  for  his  turn  to  be  heard 
in  a  cause.  He  speaks  of  himself  in  it,  as  he  supposes 
others  will  speak  of  him.  To  show  you  that  he  is  not 
always  cold  and  unbending,  I  will  give  you  an  extract 
from  the  letter. 

For  instance,  he  dated  it  in  this  manner : 


152  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

BOSTON,  Jan.  15,  '49 — Monday,  12  o'clock, 
In  C.  Court,  United  States. 

Marcy  vs.  Sizer  being  on  trial,  and  Tabero  dicente,  in,  long  urn  ;  and 
another  snow  storm  appearing  to  be  on  the  wing. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  "We  are  in  Court  yet,  and  so 
shall  be  some  days  longer.  We  have  the  evidence  in, 
and  a  discussion  on  the  law,  preliminary  to  our  sum 
ming  up,  is  now  going  on.  I  think  it  will  consume 
the  remainder  of  this  day,  if  it  lasts  no  longer.  Mr. 
Choate  will  speak  to-morrow,  and  I  close  immediately 
after.  ******* 

I  am  afraid  my  luck  is  always  bad,  and  I  fear  is 
always  to  be  so.  *  *  *  *  (Here  Mr.  Webster 
speaks  of  what  he  expects^  and  about  which  he  fears 
he  may  be  disappointed,  and  the  consequences  of  it.) 

He  then  goes  on  to  say : 

"  It  will  be  said,  or  may  be  said  hereafter,  Mr. 
Webster  was  a  laborious  man  in  his  profession  and 
other  pursuits.  He  never  tasted  of  the  bread  of  idle 
ness.  His  profession  yielded  him,  at  some  times, 
large  amounts  of  income ;  but  he  seems  never  to 
have  aimed  at  accumulation,  and  perhaps  was  not 
justly  sensible  of  the  importance  and  duty  of  preser 
vation.  Riches  were  never  before  his  eyes  as  a  lead 
ing  object  of  regard.  When  young  and  poor,  he  was 
more  earnest  in  struggling  for  eminence,  than  in  ef 
forts  for  making  money ;  and  in  after  life,  reputation, 
public  regard,  and  usefulness  in  high  pursuits,  mainly 
engrossed  his  attention.  He  always  said,  also,  that 
he  was  never  destined  to  be  rich ;  that  no  such  star 
presided  over  his  birth ;  that  he  never  obtained  any 
thing  by  any  attempts  or  efforts  out  of  the  line  of 


ANECDOTE.  153 


his  profession  ;  that  his  friends,  on  several  occasions, 
induced  him  to  take  an  intesest  in  business  opera 
tions  ;  that  as  often  as  he  did  so,  loss  resulted,  till  ho 
used  to  say  when  spoken  to  on  such  subjects — 

"  Gentlemen,  if  you  have  any  projects  for  money 
making,  I  pray  you  keep  me  out  of  them  ;  my  singular 
destiny  mars  every  thing  of  that  sort,  and  would  be  sure 
to  overwhelm  your  own  better  fortunes."  After  this  he 
says :  "  Mr.  Webster  was  the  author  of  that  short  bio 
graphy  of  most  good  lawers,  which  has  been  ascribed 
to  other  sources,  viz  :  that  they  '  lived  well,  worked 
hard,  and  died  poor.'  " 

And  in  the  same  letter  he  tells  the  following  an 
ecdote  of  himself : 

Sitting  one  day  at  the  Bar  in  Portsmouth,  with  an 
elderly  member  of  the  Bar,  his  friend,  who  enjoyed 
with  sufficient  indulgence  that  part  of  a  lawyer's  lot 
which  consists  "in  living  well,"  Mr.  Webster  made  an 
epitaph,  which  would  not  be  unsuitable — 

"  Natus  consiunere  fruges; 

Frugibus  consumptis, 

Hie  Jacet. 

K.  C.  S." 

At  the  close  of  the  letter,  he  added  the  following 
postcript,  relative  to  the  case  on  trial : 

Half-past  2  o ^  clock — Cessat  Taber;  Choate  se- 
quitur,  in  questions  juris,  Crastino  die. 

"  Tabert  is  learned,  sharp  and  dry  ; 
Choate,  full  of  fancy,  soaring  high  ; 
Both,  lawyers  of  the  best  report, 
True  to  their  clients  and  the  Court ; 
What  sorrow  doth  a  Christian  feel, 
Both  should  bo  '  broken,  on  a  whecV  " 


154  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

Most  persons  who  know  but  little  of  Mr.  Webster, 
or  have  seen  him  only  on  great  public  occasions,  when 
his  brow  was  knit  with  thought,  think  he  is  always 
stern,  and  never  unbends  himself ;  but  the  truth  is  far 
otherwise.  I  have  many  playful  letters  like  this,  and 
I  have  always  found  him  throughout  all  my  travel 
ling,  sojourning  and  sports  with  him,  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  men — one  of  the  most  amiable  and  playful 
men  I  ever  met.  No  one  has  known  him  more  inti 
mately,  or  has  seen  him  oftener,  under  every  variety 
of  circumstances  for  fifteen  years. 

Yours  truly. 


MR.    WEBSTER  MAKES   HIS   fall   OF  MARCH   SPEECH. 

"WASHINGTON,  March  8,  1850. 

It  happens  to  be  my  great  and  good  luck  to  be 
here  at  this  interesting  stage  in  the  progress  of  na 
tional  events,  and  that  I  heard  Mr.  Webster's  speech 
yesterday  in  the  Senate.  I  have  never  been  present 
on  any  occasion  more  interesting,  or  when  the  excite 
ment  ran  higher,  or  on  any  to  which  my  country  will 
recur  with  more  pleasure. 

It  had  been  known  for  several  days  that,  on 
Thursday,  Mr.  Webster  was  to  speak  on  the  subjects 
which  shake  the  foundations  of  our  government.  Mr. 
Calhoun,  the  greatest  champion  of  the  South,  utter 
ing  sentiments  which  made  many  stout  hearts  tremble, 
had  spoken  on  Monday,  and  his  speech,  like  flashes 
of  lightning,  had  been  seen  simultaneously  in  all  parts 
of  the  surrounding  country  ;  consequently  every  man 


MAKES    HIS    SEVENTH    OF    MARCH    SPEECH.        155 

or  woman  who  could  come  to  Washington  with  any 
hgpe  of  hearing  Mr.  Webster,  was  here.  The  day 
itself  was  glorious.  At  an  early  hour  crowds  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  moved  along  the  avenue,  and  besieged 
every  door  of  the  Senate  Chamber. 

On  the  opening  of  the  galleries  they  were  imme 
diately  filled  by  the  most  fortunate,  but  the  crowd 
without  was  not  sensibly  diminished.  At  10  o'clock, 
two  hours  before  the  Senate  was  to  convene,  privi 
leged  persons,  and  other  gentlemen  and  ladies  with 
permits  from  Senators,  began  to  pour  into  the  Senate 
Chamber  itself.  Soon  all  the  seats,  except  the  chairs 
of  the  Senators,  were  occupied  by  ladies,  whose  smiles 
had  won  the  privilege  to  enter,  while  the  lobbies  were 
crowded  with  members  of  the  other  house,  and  other 
eminent  gentlemen,  standing.  Soon  the  Senators 
themselves  made  their  appearance  with  more  ladies — 
their  wives,  daughters  and  friends, — and  then  extra 
chairs,  and  sofas,  and  temporary  seats,  made  with 
public  documents  piled  one  upon  another,  were  called 
into  use.  The  steps  which  surround  the  Vice-Presi 
dent's  chair  were  occupied  by  ladies,  while  between 
every  two  Senators  was  sandwiched  at  least  one 
pretty  woman.  In  many  instances  gallantry  so  far 
overcame  convenience  that  the  Senators  gave  up  their 
own  seats  to  ladies,  standing  themselves  in  the  crowd. 
There  was  not  unoccupied  a  spot  in  that  chamber, 
above  or  below,  or  in  any  avenue  leading  to  it, 
where  the  sound  of  Mr.  Webster's  voice  could  be  heard. 

It  was  a  magnificent  sight.  The  assembled  wis 
dom  and  beauty  of  this  country  never  before  beheld 
an  audience  of  a  higher  grade. 


156  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

At  12  o'clock  the  Vice-President  took  the  chair, 
and  a  rap  on  the  table  with  the  ivory  mallet  before 
him  called  the  Senate  to  order ;  then  a  prayer  was 
made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Butler,  and  the  minutes  of  the 
previous  day  were  read  by  the  Secretary.  As  soon 
as  possible  the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  special  order 
of  the  day,  which  was  the  subject  of  the  Compromise. 
The  Vice-President  said  that  Mr.  Walker,  of  Wis 
consin,  not  having  finished  his  speech  the  day  before, 
was  entitled  to  the  floor.  Thereupon  Mr.  Walker 
rose  and  said, — 

"  Mr.  President :  This  vast  audience  has  not  as 
sembled  to  hear  me ;  and  there  is  but  one  man,  in 
my  opinion,  who  can  assemble  such  an  audience. 
They  expect  to  hear  him,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty, 
^s  well  as  my  pleasure,  to  give  the  floor  therefore  to 
the  Senator  from  Massachusetts." 

In  a  moment  the  buzz  of  a  thousand  voices  and 
whispers  was  silenced,  and  as  many  Bright  and  pierc 
ing  eyes  were  turned  to  the  seat  of  Mr.  Webster. 
With  that  self-possession  which  so  eminently  distin 
guished  him,  he  rose,  passed  his  hand  over  his  brow, 
bowed  to  the  Vice-President,  surveyed  the  multitude 
in  his  presence,  expressed  his  obligations  to  the  gen 
tleman  who  had  yielded  the  floor  to  him,  and  began 
by  saying ;  "  Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  speak  to-day, 
not  as  a  Massachusetts  man,  not  as  a  Northern  man, 
but  as  an  American,  and  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States."  And  he  did  so  speak.  He  made, 
as  you,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  ere  this  reaches 
you  will  have  read,  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  he 
ever  uttered,  if  not  the  greatest  of  all. 


MAKES    HIS    SEVENTH    OF    MARCH    SPEECH.        157 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  by  the  courtesy  of  a 
Senator,  to  have  a  position  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
exactly  in  front  of  the  Speaker.  I  heard  every  word, 
and  saw  every  gesture,  and  every  look.  In  manner, 
as  well  perhaps  as  in  matter,  he  surpassed  himself.  It 
was  not  an  occasion  for  fluent  oratory,  as  if  it  were  a 
dinner  speech,  and  therefore  nothing  of  that  sort  was 
introduced.  It  was  not  a  political  harangue,  made 
to  excite  the  action  or  draw  forth  the  plaudits  of  the 
people.  It  was  none  of  those  occasions  on  which  we 
are  apt  to  look  for  smart  sayings,  classical  allusions, 
or  many  of  the  flowers  of  speech. 

It  was  a  grave  occasion.  It  was  before  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States ;  treating  the  Senate  as  if  it 
were  what  it  ought  to  be,  whether  it  is  or  not.  The 
question  was,  substantially,  "  SHALL  OR  SHALL  NOT 
THE  UNION  BE  DISSOLVED  ?"  When,  in  your  time  or 
mine,  has  arisen  a  question  more  momentous  1  Never, 
and  Heaven  grant  that  hereafter  the  question  may 
never  be  asked.  He  spoke  three  hours  ;  yet,  what  is 
extraordinary,  he  never  looked  at  his  notes,  except 
to  take  from  them  copies  of  resolutions  and  several 
extracts  from  his  former  speeches,  which  he  asked 
Mr.  Green,  of  Rhode  Island,  whose  seat  is  near  his 
own,  to  read  for  him.  He  never  transposed  a  sen 
tence,  or  attempted  to  change  the  phraseology  of  an 
idea  he  had  put  forth ;  but  his  speech  came  on,  as  the 
Mississippi  rolls  from  its  fountains,  increasing  in 
depth  and  width  till  it  terminates  in  the  ocean. 

I  happen  to  know  that  it  was  his  intention  to  oc 
cupy  parts  of  two  days.  He  supposed  that,  in  the 
order  of  business,  he  should  begin  not  far  from  two 


158  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

o'clock,  and  might  speak  till  the  usual  hour  for  the 
adjournment  of  the  Senate,  and  that  on  the  next 
morning  he  could  finish  what  he  had  to  say.  He  had 
notes  prepared  on  half  a  sheet  of  letter  paper,  to 
which  he  would  have  referred,  and  he  would  have  in 
troduced  several  other  topics,  had  Mr.  Walker  not 
given  way,  and  had  he  not  concluded  thereupon  to 
curtail  his  speech  to  what  could  be  submitted  on  that 
morning.  Hence  the  reason  of  his  laying  aside  his 
notes,  and  making,  as  he  did,  an  entirely  extempo 
raneous  speech,  more  brief  than  it  would  otherwise 
have  been  and  purposely  stripped  of  ornament. 

His  utterance  was  slow  and  his  enunciation  very 
distinct.  His  voice  was  generally  raised  just  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  clearly  in  all  parts  of  the  chamber, 
and  only  occasionally  rose  to  a  pitch  indicating  ex 
citement.  As  he  approached  the  close  he  became  a 
little  warm,  and  the  Senate  felt  and  manifested  the 
force  of  his  sentiments.  When  the  idea  of  dissolving 
the  Union  by  peaceable  secession  came  into  his  mind, 
his  eyes  appeared  like  two  balls  of  fire,  and  his  gesticu 
lation  indicated  the  strength  of  his  patriotic  impulses. 

His  whole  manner  spoke  on  this  topic  more  than 
any  words  that  he  could  command.  Not  a  sound— 
not  even  the  falling  of  a  pin — broke  the  silence  be 
tween  his  sentences.  He  stood  erect,  with  his  burn 
ing  eyes  fixed  on  Mr.  Calhoun,  to  whom  at  this 
instant  every  eye  was  drawn,  and  to  whom  a  hundred 
curling  lips  were  bidding  simultaneous  defiance.  I 
should  like  to  see  and  study  for  hours  a  true  picture 
of  the  Senate,  taken  at  that  moment.  A  more  sub 
lime  tableau  vivant  I  never  expect  to  see. 


MAKES  HIS  SEVENTH  OF  MARCH  SPEECH.   159 

There  was  one  sentence  on  the  subject  of  the 
proposed  Southern  Convention  which  roused  the  feel 
ings  of  those  venerating  the  name  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
who  swore  "by  the  Eternal,  this  Union  must  and 
SHALL  be  preserved,"  and  who  lies  in  his  tomb  at 
Nashville. 

"I  believe,"  said  Mr.  "Webster,  "if  the  Conven 
tion  meet  at  all,  it  will  be  for  this  purpose  ;  for  cer 
tainly,  if  they  meet  for  any  purpose  hostile  to  the 
Union,  they  have  been  singularly  inappropriate  in 
their  selection  of  a  place.  I  remember,  sir,  that 
when  the  treaty  was  concluded  between  France  and 
England  at  the  peace  at  Amiens,  a  stern  old  En 
glishman  and  an  orator,  who  disliked  the  terms  of  the 
peace  as  ignominious  to  England,  said  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  that  if  King  William  could  know  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  he  would  turn  in  his  coffin.  Let 
me  commend  the  saying,  in  all  its  emphasis  and  in  all 
its  force,  to  any  body  who  shall  meet  at  Nashville  for 
the  purpose  of  concerting  measures  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  Union  of  this  country  over  the  bones  of 
Andrew  Jackson." 

The  effect  upon  the  audience  was  like  a  shock  of 
electricity  Here  again  the  flashing  eye  and  the 
glowing  countenance,  spoke  more  than  any  words  that 
can  be  uttered. 

He  finished  his  speech  by  quoting  the  poet's  de 
scription  of  the  ornamental  buckler  of  Achilles,  and 
sat  down.  An  enthusiastic  burst  of  applause  fol 
lowed,  though  the  enchanted  hearers  were  in  the 
presence  of  the  Senate. 

The  Senators  from  all  parts  of  the  Chamber  ad- 


160  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

vanced,took  him  by  the  hand,  and  complimented  him, 
and  congratulated  the  country. 

Mr.  Benton  told  him  that  his  speech  would  do 
more  toward  allaying  the  dangerous  excitement,  and 
for  ever  annihilating  the  idea  of  disunion,  than  all  the 
propositions  and  schemes  for  compromise  that  had 
been  or  could  be  proposed  from  any  quarter  of  the 
Union.  Such  language  was  addressed  to  him  spon 
taneously  from  all  parts,  East,  West,  North,  and 
South. 

Sir  Henry  L.  Bulwer  took  him  by  the  hand  and 
said :  "  Sir,  that  was  one  of  the  most  finished  speci 
mens  of  oratory  I  have  ever  heard,  and  would  do 
honor  to  any  man  I  ever  saw."  This  from  one  so  dis 
tinguished  as  a  scholar,  and  so  well  acquainted  with 
all  the  great  men  of  Europe,  is  a  high  compliment,  to 
say  the  least  of  it. 

The  speech  is  reported  this  morning,  and  it  reads 
well ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  put  it  on  paper  as  it 
appeared  to  those  who  heard  it,  and  are  capable  of 
appreciating  its  merits. 

Yours  truly. 


EDWARD  EVERETT'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  DEATH  OF 
WEBSTER,  AT  A  MEETING  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF 
BOSTON. 


MR.  MAYOR  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  I  never  rose  to 
address  an  assembly  when  I  was  so  little  fit,  body 
or  mind,  to  perform  the  duty ;  and  I  never  felt  so 
keenly  how  inadequate  are  words  to  express  such  an 
emotion  as  manifestly  pervades  this  meeting,  in  com 
mon  with  the  whole  country.  There  is  but  one  voice 
that  ever  fell  upon  my  ear  which  could  do  justice  to 
such  an  occasion.  That  voice,  alas !  we  shall  hear 
no  more  forever.  No  more  at  the  bar  will  it  unfold 
the  deepest  mysteries  of  the  law ;  no  more  will  it 
speak  conviction  to  admiring  Senates ;  no  more  in  this 
hall,  the  chosen  theatre  of  his  intellectual  dominion, 
will  it  lift  the  soul  as  with  a  swell  of  the  pealing 
organ,  or  stir  the  blood  with  the  tones  of  a  clarion, 
in  the  inmost  chambers  of  the  heart. 

We  are  assembled,  fellow-citizens,  to  pour  out  the 
fulness  of  our  feelings  ;  not  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
do  honor  to  the  great  man  who  is  taken  from  us ; 
most  assuredly,  not  with  the  presumptuous  hope  on 
any  part  to  magnify  his  name  and  his  praise.  They 
are  spread  throughout  the  land.  From  East  to  West, 


162  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  from  North  to  South,  (which  he  knew,  as  he  told 
you,  only  that  he  might  embrace  them  in  the  arms  of 
loving  patriotism.)  a  voice  of  lamentation  has  already 
gone  forth,  such  as  has  not  echoed  throughout  the 
land,  since  the  death  of  him  who  was  "  first  in  war, 
first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country 
men." 

You  have  listened,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  resolu 
tions  which  have  been  submitted  to  you  by  Col. 
Heard.  I  thank  him  for  offering  them.  It  does 
honor  to  his  heart,  and  to  those  with  whom  he  acts  in 
politics,  and  whom,  I  have  no  doubt,  he  well  repre 
sents,  that  he  has  stepped  forward  so  liberally  on  this 
occasion.  The  resolutions  are  emphatic,  sir,  but  I 
feel  that  they  do  not  say  too  much.  No  one  will 
think  they  overstate  the  magnitude  of  our  loss,  who 
is  capable  of  appreciating  a  character  like  that  of 
Daniel  "Webster.  Who  of  us,  fellow-citizens,  that 
has  known  him — that  has  witnessed  the  masterly  skill 
with  which  he  would  pour  the  full  effulgence  of  his 
mind  on  some  contested  legal  and  constitutional 
principle,  till  what  seemed  hard  and  obscure  became 
as  plain  as  day ;  who  that  has  seen  him,  in  all  the 
glory  of  intellectual  ascendency. 

Ride  on  the  whirlwind  and  direct  the  storm 

of  parliamentary  conflict ;  who  that  has  drank  of  the 
pure,  fresh  air  of  wisdom  and  thought  in  the  volumes 
of  his  writings ;  who,  alas  sir,  that  has  seen  him 


-in  his  happier  hour 


Of  social  pleasure,  ill-exchanged  for  power, 


EDWARD  EVERETT'S  SPEECH.  163 

that  has  come  within  the  benignant  fascination  of  his 
smile,  has  felt  the  pressure  of  his  hand,  and  tasted  the 
sweets  of  his  fireside  eloquence,  will  think  that  the 
resolutions  say  too  much? 

No,  fellow-citizens,  we  come  together  not  to  do 
honor  to  him  but  to  do  justice  to  ourselves.  We 
obey  an  impulse  from  within.  Such  a  feeling  cannot 
be  pent  up  in  solitude.  We  must  meet,  neighbor 
with  neighbor,  citizen  with  citizen,  man  with  man, 
to  sympathize  with  each  other.  If  we  did  not,  mute 
Nature  would  rebuke  us.  The  Granite  Hills  of  New 
Hampshire,  within  whose  shadow  he  drew  his  first 
breath,  would  cry  shame  :  Plymouth  Rock,  which  all 
but  moved  at  his  approach ;  the  slumbering  echoes  of 
this  Hall  which  rung  so  grandly  with  his  voice,  that 
"  silent  but  majestic  orator,"  which  rose  in  no  mean 
degree  at  his  command  on  Bunker  Hill, — all,  all, 
would  cry  out  at  our  degeneracy  and  ingratitude. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  stand  here  to  pronounce 
the  eulogy  of  Mr.  Webster  ;  it  is  not  necessary.  Eu 
logy  has  already  performed  her  first  offices  to  his 
memory.  As  the  mournful  tidings  have  flashed 
through  the  country,  the  highest  offices  of  Nation  and 
State,  the  most  dignified  official  bodies,  the  most 
prominent  individuals,  without  distinction  of  party, 
the  press  of  the  country,  the  great  voice  of  the  land, 
all  have  spoken,  and  with  one  accord  of  opinion  and 
feeling ;  with  a  unanimity  that  does  honor  at  once  to 
*  the  object  of  this  touching  attestation,  and  to  those 
who  make  it.  The  record  of  his  life,  from  the  humble 
roof  beneath  which  he  was  born,  (with  no  inheritance 
but  poverty  and  an  honored  name,)  up  through  the 


164  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

arduous  paths  of  manhood,  which  he  trod  with  lion 
heart  and  giant  steps,  till  they  conducted  him  to  the 
helm  of  state, — this  stirring  narrative,  not  unfamiliar 
before,  has,  with  melancholy  promptitude,  within  the 
last  three  days,  been  again  sent  abroad  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  It  has  spread  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi.  Struggling  poverty 
has  been  cheered  afresh ;  honest  ambition  has  been 
kindled,  patriotic  resolve  has  been  invigorated ;  while 
all  have  mourned. 

The  poor  boy  at  the  village  school  has  taken  com 
fort  as  he  has  read  that  the  time  was  when  Daniel 
Webster,  whose  father  told  him  he  should  go  to  col 
lege  if  he  had  to  sell  every  acre  of  his  farm  to  pay  the 
expense,  laid  his  head  on  the  shoulder  of  that-  ibnd 
and  discerning  parent,  and  wept  the  thanks  ts  could 
not  speak.  The  pale  student  who  ekes  out  his  scanty 
support  by  extra  toil  has  gathered  comfort  when  re 
minded  that  the  first  jurist,  statesman,  and  orator  of 
the  time,  earned  with  his  weary  fingers  by  the  mid 
night  lamp,  the  means  of  securing  the  same  advan 
tages  of  education  to  a  beloved  brother.  Every  true- 
hearted  citizen  throughout  the  Union  has  felt  an 
honest  pride  as  he  re-peruses  the  narrative,  in  reflect 
ing  that  he  lives  beneath  a  Constitution  and  a 
Government  under  which  such  a  man  has  been  formed 
and  trained,  and  that  he  himself  is  compatriot  with 
him.  He  does  more,  sir ;  he  reflects  with  gratitude 
that  in  consequence  of  what  that  man  has  done  and 
written,  and  said — in  the  result  of  his  efforts  to 
strengthen  the  pillars  of  the  Union — a  safer  inherit- 


EDWARD  EVERETT'S  SPEECH.  165 

ance  of  civil   liberty,  a  stronger  assurance  that  these 
blessings  will  endure,  will  descend  to  his  children. 

I  know,  Mr.  Mayor,  how  presumptuous  it  would 
be  to  dwell  on  any  personal  causes  of  grief,  in  the 
presence  of  this  august  sorrow  which  spreads  its  dark 
wings  over  the  land.  You  will  not,  however,  be 
offended,  if  by  way  of  apology  for  putting  myself  for 
ward  on  this  occasion,  I  say  that  my  relations  with 
Mr.  Webster  run  further  back  than  those  of  almost 
any  one  in  this  community.  They  began  the  first 
year  he  came  to  live  in  Boston.  When  I  was  but  ten 
or  eleven  years  old,  I  attended  a  little  private  school 
in  Short-street,  (as  it  was  then  called ;  it  is  now  the 
continuation  of  Kingston-street,)  kept  by  the  late 
Hon.  Ezekiel  Webster,  the  elder  brother  to  whom  I 
have  alluded,  and  a  brother  worthy  of  his  kindred. 
Owing  to  illness,  or  some  other  cause  of  absence  on 
his  part,  the  school  was  kept  for  a  short  time  by  Dan 
iel  Webster,  then  a  student  of  law  in  Mr.  Gore's 
office ;  and  on  this  occasion,  forty-seven  or  forty-eight 
years  ago,  and  I  a  child  of  ten,  our  acquaintance, 
never  interrupted,  began. 

When  I  entered  public  life,  it  was  with  his  en 
couragement.  In  1838,  I  acted,  fellow-citizens,  as 
your  organ  in  the  great  ovation  which  you  gave  him 
in  this  hall.  When  he  came  to  the  Department  of 
State,  in  18415  it  was  on  his  recommendation  that  I, 
living  in  the  utmost  privacy  beyond  the  Alps,  was 
appointed  to  a  very  high  office  abroad ;  and,  in  the 
course  of  the  last  year,  he  gave  me  the  highest  proof 
of  his  confidence,  in  intrusting  to  me  the  care  of  con 
ducting  his  works  through  the  press.  May  I  venture, 


166  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

sir,  to  add,  that  in  the  last  letter  but  one  which  I  had 
the  happiness  to  receive  from  him,  alluding  with  a 
kind  of  sad  presentiment,  which  I  could  not  then 
fully  appreciate,  but  which  now  unmans  me,  to  these 
kindly  relations  of  half  a  century,  he  adds :  "  We 
now  and  then  see  stretching  across  the  heavens  a 
clear,  blue,  cerulean  sky,  without  cloud,  or  mist,  or 
haze.  And  such  appears  to  me  our  acquaintance 
from  the  time  when  I  heard  you  for  a  week  recite 
your  lessons  in  the  little  school-house  in  Short-street, 
to  the  date  hereof,"  21st  July,  1852. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  dwell  upon  the  traits  of 
Mr.  Webster's  public  character,  however  tempting 
the  theme.  Its  bright  developments  in  a  long  life 
of  service  are  before  the  world;  they  are  wrought 
into  the  annals  of  the  country.  Whoever  in  after 
times  shall  write  the  history  of  the  United  States  for 
the  last  forty  years,  will  write  the  life  of  Daniel  Web 
ster  ;  and  whoever  writes  the  life  of  Daniel  Webster, 
as  it  ought  to  be  written,  will  write  the  history  of 
the  Union  from  the  time  he  took  a  leading  part  in  its 
concerns.  I  prefer  to  allude  to  those  private  traits 
which  show  the  MAN,  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  the 
generosity  of  his  spirit,  his  freedom  from  all  the  bit 
terness  of  party,  the  unaffected  gentleness  of  his  na 
ture.  In  preparing  the  new  edition  of  his  works,  he 
thought  proper  to  leave  almost  everything  to  my 
discretion — as  far  as  matters  of  taste  are  concerned. 
One  thing  only  he  enjoined  upon  me,  with  an  earnest 
ness  approaching  to  a  command.  "  My  friend,"  said 
he,  "  I  wish  to  perpetuate  no  feuds.  I  have  some 
times,  though  rarely,  and  that  in  self-defence,  been 


EDWARD  EVERETT'S  SPEECH.  167 

led  to  speak  of  others  with  severity.  I  beg  you, 
where  you  can  do  it  without  wholly  changing  the 
character  of  the  speech,  and  thus  doing  essential  in 
justice  to  me,  to  obliterate  every  trace  of  personality 
of  this  kind.  I  should  prefer  not  to  leave  a  word 
that  would  give  unnecessary  pain  to  any  honest  man, 
however  opposed  to  me." 

But  I  need  not  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  that  there 
is  no  one  of  our  distinguished  public  men  whose 
speeches  contain  less  occasion  for  such  an  injunction. 
Mr.  Webster  habitually  abstained  from  the  use  of 
the  poisoned  weapons  of  personal  invective  or  party 
odium.  No  one  could  more  studiously  abstain  from 
all  attempts  to  make  a  political  opponent  personally 
hateful.  If  the  character  of  our  congressional  dis 
cussions  has  of  late  years  somewhat  doclined  in  dig 
nity,  no  portion  of  the  blame  lies  at  his  door.  With 
Mr.  Calhoun,  who,  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
time,  was  his  chief  antagonist,  and  with  whom  he  was 
brought  into  most  direct  collision,  he  maintained 
friendly  personal  relations.  He  did  full  justice  to 
his  talent  and  character.  You  remember  the  feeling 
with  which  he  spoke  of  him  at  the  time  of  his  decease. 
Mr.  Calhoun,  in  his  turn,  entertained  a  just  estimate 
of  his  great  opponent's  worth.  He  said,  toward  the 
close  of  his  life,  that  of  all  the  leading  men  of  the 
day,  "  there  was  not  one  whose  political  course  had 
been  more  strongly  marked  by  a  strict  regard  to 
truth  and  honor  than  Mr.  Webster's." 

One  of  the  resolutions  speaks  of  a  permanent 
memorial  to  Mr.  Webster.  I  do  not  know  what  is 
contemplated,  but  I  trust  that  such  a  memorial  thero 


168  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

will  be.  I  trust  that  marble  and  brass,  in  the  hands 
of  the  most  skilful  artists  our  country  has  produced, 
will  be  put  in  requisition  to  reproduce  to  us — and 
nowhere  so  appropriately  as  in  this  hall — the  linea 
ments  of  that  noble  form  and  beaming  countenance, 
on  which  we  have  so  often  gazed  with  delight.  But, 
after  all,  fellow-citizens,  the  noblest  monument  may 
be  found  in  his  works.  There  he  will  live  and 
speak  to  us  and  our  children  when  brass  and  marble 
have  crumbled  into  dust.  As  a  repository  of  political 
truth  and  practical  wisdom  applied  to  the  affairs  of 
government,  I  know  not  where  we  shall  find  their 
equal.  The  works  of  Burke  naturally  suggest  them 
selves  to  the  mind  as  the  only  writings  in  our  lan 
guage  that  can  sustain  the  comparison.  Certainly  no 
compositions  in  the  English  tongue  can  take  prece 
dence  of  those  of  Burke  in  depth  of  thought,  reach  of 
forecast,  or  magnificence  of  style.  I  think,  however, 
it  may  be  said,  without  partiality,  either  national  or 
personal,  that  while  the  reader  is  cloyed  at  last  with 
the  gorgeous  finish  of  Burke's  diction,  there  is  a  se 
vere  simplicity,  and  a  significant  plainness,  in  Web 
ster's  writings  that  never  tires.  It  is  precisely  this 
which  characterizes  the  statesman  in  distinction  from 
the  political  philosopher.  In  political  disquisition 
elaborated  in  the  closet,  the  palm  must  perhaps  be 
awarded  to  Burke  over  all  others,  ancient  or  modern. 
But  in  the  actual  conflicts  of  the  Senate,  man  against 
man,  and  opinion  against  opinion,  in  the  noble  war 
of  debate,  where  measures  are  to  be  sustained  and 
opposed,  on  which  the  welfare  of  the  country  and  the 
peace  of  the  world  depend,  where  often  the  line  of 


EDWARD  EVERETT'S  SPEECH.  169 

intellectual  battle  is  changed  in  a  moment  — no  time 
to  reflect — no  leisure  to  cull  words,  or  gather  up  il 
lustrations—but  all  to  be  decided  by  a  vote,  although 
the  reputation  of  a  life  may  be  at  stake — all  this  is  a 
very  different  matter,  and  here  Mr.  Webster  was  im 
measurably  the  superior.  Accordingly,  we  find  histo 
rically  (incredible  as  it  sounds,  and  what  I  am  ready 
to  say  I  will  not  believe,  though  it  is  unquestionably 
true),  that  these  inimitable  orations  of  Burke,  which 
one  cannot  read  without  a  thrill  of  admiration  to  his 
fingers'  ends,  actually  emptied  the  benches  of  Parlia 
ment. 

Ah,  gentlemen,  it  was  very  different  with  our 
great  parliamentary  orator.  He  not  only  chained  to 
their  seats  willing,  or,  if  there  were  such  a  thing,  un 
willing  Senators,  but  the  largest  hall  was  too  small 
for  his  audience.  On  the  memorable  7th  of  March, 
1850,  when  he  was  expected  to  speak  upon  the  great 
questions  then  panding  before  the  country,  not  only 
was  the  Senate  Chamber  thronged  to  its  utmost  ca 
pacity  at  an  early  hour,  but  all  the  passages  to  it, 
the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  and  even  the  avenues  of 
the  city,  were  alive  with  the  crowds  who  were  desi 
rous  of  gaining  admittance.  Another  Senator,  not  a 
political  friend,  was  entitled  to  the  floor.  With  equal 
good  taste  and  feeling,  he  stated  that  "  he  was  aware 
that  great  multitudes  had  not  come  together  to  hear 
him ;  and  he  was  pleased  to  yield  the  floor  to  the 
only  man,  as  he  believed,  who  could  draw  together 
such  an  assembly."  This  sentiment,  the  effusion  of 
parliamentary  courtesy,  will,  perhaps,  be  found  no 


VOL.  n. 


170  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

inadequate  expression   of  what  will  finally  be   the 
judgment  of  posterity. 

Among  the  many  memorable  words  which  fell 
from  the  lips  of  our  friend  just  before  they  were  closed 
for  ever,  the  most  remarkable  are  those  which  my 
friend  Hilliard  has  just  quoted, — "I  STILL  LIVE." 
They  attest  the  serene  composure  of  his  mind ;  the 
Christian's  heroism,  with  which  he  was  able  to  turn 
his  consciousness  in  upon  himself,  and  explore,  step 
by  step,  the  dark  passage  (dark  to  us,  but  to  him,  we 
trust,  already  lighted  from  above),  which  connects 
this  world  with  the  world  to  come.  But  I  know  not, 
Mr.  Chairman,  what  words  could  have  been  better 
chosen  to  express  his  relation  to  the  world  he  was 
leaving — "  I  still  live."  This  poor  dust  is  just  return 
ing  to  the  dust  from  which  it  was  taken,  but  I  feel 
that  I  live  in  the  affections  of  the  people  to  whose 
services  I  have  consecrated  my  days.  "  I  still  live." 
The  icy  hand  of  death  is  already  laid  on  my  heart, 
but  I  shall  still  live  in  those  words  of  counsel  which 
I  have  uttered  to  my  fellow-citizens,  and  which  I  now 
leave  them  as  the  last  bequest  of  a  dying  friend. 

Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  long  and  honored  career  of 
our  lamented  friend,  there  are  efforts  and  triumphs 
which  will  hereafter  fill  one  of  the  brightest  pages 
of  our  history.  But  I  greatly  err  if  the  closing  scene 
— the  height  of  the  religious  sublime — does  not,  in 
the  judgment  of  other  days,  far  transcend  in  interest 
the  brightest  exploits  of  public  life.  Within  that 
darkened  chamber  at  Marshfield  was  witnessed  a 
scene  of  which  we  shall  not  readily  find  the  parallel. 
The  serenity  with  which  he  stood  in  the  presence  of 


171 

the  King  of  Terrors,  without  trepidation  or  flutter, 
for  hours  and  days  of  expectation  :  the  thoughtfulness 
for  the  public  business,  when  the  sands  were  so  nearly 
run  out ;  the  hospitable  care  for  the  reception  of  the 
friends  who  came  to  Marshfield ;  that  affectionate 
and  solemn  leave  separately  taken,  name  by  name,  of 
wife,  and  children,  and  kindred,  and  friends,  and  fa 
mily,  down  to  the  humblest  members  of  the  house 
hold  ;  the  designation  of  the  coming  day,  then  near 
at  hand,  when  "  all  that  was  mortal  of  Daniel  Web 
ster  would  cease  to  exist!"  the  dimly  recollected 
strains  of  the  funeral  poetry  of  Gray  ;  the  last  faint 
flash  of  the  soaring  intellect ;  the  feebly  murmured 
words  of  Holy  Writ  repeated  from  the  lips  of 
the  good  physician,  who,  when  all  the  resources  of 
human  art  had  been  exhausted,  had  a  drop  of  spiritual 
balm  for  the  parting  soul ;  the  clasped  hands ;  the 
dying  prayers.  Oh!  my  fellow-citizens,  this  is  a 
consummation  over  which  tears  of  pious  sympathy 
will  be  shed  ages  after  the  glories  of  the  forum  and 
the  senate  are  forgotten. 

"  His  sufferings  ended  with  the  day, 

Yet  lived  he  at  its  close  ; 
And  breathed  the  long,  long  night  away, 
In  statue-like  repose. 

"But  ere  the  Sun,  in  all  his  state, 

Illumed  the  Eastern  skies, 
He  passed  through  glory's  morning  gate, 
And  walked  in  Paradise." 


RUFUS  CHOATE'S  SPEECH  BEFORE  THE  SUFFOLK 
BAR,  BOSTON,  ON  OCCASION  OF  THE  DECEASE 
OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  HONOR — I  have  been  re 
quested  by  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  this  Court  to 
present  certain  resolutions  in  which  they  have  embo 
died,  as  they  were  able,  their  sorrow  for  the  death  of 
their  beloved  and  illustrious  member  and  country 
man,  Mr.  Webster ;  their  estimation  of  his  character, 
life,  and  genius  ;  their  sense  of  the  bereavement — to 
the  country  as  to  his  friends — incapable  of  repair ; 
the  pride,  the  fondness— the  filial  and  patriotic  pride 
and  fondness — with  which  they  cherish  and  would 
consign  to  history,  to  cherish  the  memory  of  a  great 
and  good  man. 

And  when  I  have  presented  these  resolutions,  my 
duty  is  done.  He  must  have  known  Mr.  Webster 
less  and  loved  him  less  than  your  Honor,  or  than  I 
have  known  and  loved  him,  who  can  quite  yet — quite 
yet,  before  we  can  comprehend  that  we  have  lost  him 
for  ever — before  the  first  paleness  with  which  the 
news  of  his  death  overspread  our  cheeks,  has  passed 
away ;  before  we  have  been  down  to  lay  him  in  the 
Pilgrim  soil  he  loved  so  well,  till  the  heavens  be  no 
a 


RUFUS  CHOATE'S  SPEECH. 


more  —  ne  must  have  known  and  loved  him  less  than 
we  have  done,  who  can  come  here  quite  yet,  to  re 
count  the  series  of  his  service—  to  display  with  psy 
chological  exactness  the  traits  of  his  nature  and  mind 
_  to  ponder  and  speculate  on  the  secrets,  on  the  mar 
vellous  secrets  and  sources  of  that  vast  power,  which 
we  shall  see  no  more  in  action,  nor  aught  in  any  de 
gree  resembling  it,  among  men.  These  first  moments 
should  be  given  to  grief.  It  may  employ—  it  may 
promote  a  calmer  mood  to  construct  a  more  elaborate 
and  less  unworthy  memorial. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  moment  and  place,  in 
deed,  no  more  is  needed.  What  is  there  for  this 
Court  or  for  this  Bar  from  me  to  learn,  here  and  now 
of  him  ?  The  year  and  the  day  of  his  birth  ;  that 
birth-place  on  the  frontier  yet  bleak  and  waste  ;  the 
well  of  which  his  childhood  drank—  dug  by  that  fa 
ther  of  whom  he  said,  "  that  through  the  fire  and 
blood  of  seven  years'  revolutionary  war,  he  shrank 
from  no  danger,  no  toil,  no  sacrifice,  to  serve  his 
country,  and  to  raise  his  children  to  a  condition  bet 
ter  than  his  own"  —  the  elm-tree  that  father  planted, 
fallen  now,  as  father  and  son  have  fallen  —  that  train 
ing  of  the  giant  infancy  on  Catechism  and  Bible,  and 
Watts's  version  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  traditions  of 
Plymouth  and  Fort  William  and  Mary,  and  the  Re 
volution,  and  the  age  of  Washington,  and  Franklin  ; 
on  the  banks  of  the  Merrimack,  flowing  sometimes  in 
flood  and  anger,  from  his  secret  springs  in  the  crystal 
hills  ;  the  two  district  schoolmasters,  Chase  and  Tap- 
pan  ;  the  village  library  ;  the  dawning  of  the  love 
and  ambition  of  letters  ;  the  few  months  at  Exeter 


174  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  Boscawen  j  the  life  of  college ;  the  probation 
ary  season  of  school-teaching  ;  the  clerkship  in  the 
Fryburg  Registry  of  Deeds;  his  admission  to  the 
Bar,  presided  over  by  Judges  like  Smith, illustrated  by 
practitioners  such  as  Mason,  where  by  the  studies,  in 
the  contentions  of  nine  years  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  professional  mind  ;  his  irresistible  attraction 
to  public  life  ;  the  oration  on  commerce  ;  the  Buck 
ingham  resolutions  ;  his  first  term  of  four  years'  ser 
vice  in  Congress,  when  by  one  bound  he  sprang  to  his 
place  by  the  side  of  the  foremost  of  the  rising  Ame 
rican  statesmen  ;  his  removal  to  this  State  ;  and 
then  the  double  and  parallel  current  in  which  his 
life,  studies,  thoughts,  and  cares,  have  since  flowed, 
bearing  him  to  the  leadership  of  the  Bar,  by  univer 
sal  acclaim  ;  bearing  him  to  the  leadership  of  public 
life — last  of  that  surpassing  triumvirate,  shall  we  say 
the  greatest,  the  most  widely  known  and  admired — 
of  all  1  These  things,  to  their  minutest  details,  are 
known  and  rehearsed  familiarly.  Happier  than  the 
younger  Pliny,  happier  than  Cicero,  he  has  found  his 
historian  unsolicited,  in  his  lifetime — and  his  coun 
trymen  have  him  all  by  heart 

There  is,  then,  nothing  to  tell  you ;  nothing  to 
bring  to  mind.  And  then,  if  I  may  borrow  the  lan 
guage  of  one  of  his  historians  and  friends — one  of 
those  through  whose  beautiful  pathos  the  common 
sorrow  uttered  itself  yesterday,  in  Faneuil  Hall — "  I 
dare  not  come  here,  and  dismiss  in  a  few  summary 
paragraphs  the  character  of  one  who  has  filled  such  a 
space  in  the  history — who  holds  such  a  place  in  the 
heart  of  his  country.  It  would  be  a  disrespectful  fa- 


175 

miliarity  to  a  man  of  his  lofty  spirit,  Ins  great  soul, 
his  rich  endowments,  his  long  and  honorable  life,  to 
endeavor  thus  to  weigh  and  estimate  them."  A  half 
hour  of  words,  a  handful  of  earth,  for  fifty  years  of 
great  deeds,  on  high  places  ! 

But  although  the  time  does  not  require  any  thing 
elaborated  and  adequate — forbids  it  rather — some 
broken  sentences  of  veneration  and  love  may  be  in 
dulged  to  the  sorrow  which  oppresses  us. 

There  presents  itself,  on  the  first,  to  any  observa 
tion  of  Mr.  Webster's  life  and  character,  a  twofold 
eminence — eminence  of  the  very  highest  rank  in  a 
twofold  field  of  intellectual  public  display — the  pro 
fession  of  the  law,  and  the  profession  of  statesman 
ship — of  which  it  would  not  be  easy  to  recall  any  pa 
rallel  in  the  biography  of  illustrious  men. 

Without  seeking  for  parallels,  and  without  as 
serting  that  they  do  not  exist,  consider  that  he  was 
by  universal  designation  the  leader  of  the  general 
American  Bar ;  and  that  he  was  also,  by  an  equally 
universal  designation,  foremost  of  her  statesmen  liv 
ing  at  his  death — inferior  to  not  one  who  has  lived 
and  acted  since  the  opening  of  his  own  public  life. 
Look  at  these  aspects  of  his  greatness  separately, — 
and  from  opposite  sides  of  the  surpassing  elevation, 
consider  that  his  single  career  at  the  Bar  may  seem 
to  have  been  enough  to  employ  the  largest  faculties 
without  repose — for  a  lifetime — and  that  if  then  and 
thus  the  " infinitus  forensium  rerum  labor"  would 
have  conducted  him  to  a  mere  professional  reward — • 
a  Bench  of  Chancery  or  Law — the  crown  of  the  first 
of  advocates — jurisperitorum  eloquentissimus — to 


176  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

the  pure  and  mere  fame  of  a  great  magistrate — that 
that  would  be  as  much  as  is  allotted  to  the  ablest  in 
the  distribution  of  fame.  Even  that  half — if  I  may 
say  so — of  his  illustrious  reputation — how  long  the 
labor  to  win  it — how  worthy  of  all  that  labor !  He 
was  bred  first  in  the  severest  school  of  the  common 
law — in  which  its  doctrines  were  expounded  by 
Smith,  and  its  administration  shaped  and  directed  by 
Mason, — and  its  foundation  principles,  its  historical 
sources  and  illustrations,  its  connection  with  the  pa 
rallel  series  of  statutory  enactments,  its  modes  of 
reading,  and  the  evidence  of  its  truths, — he  grasped 
easily  and  completely  :  and  I  have  myself  heard  him 
say,  that  for  many  years  while  still  at  the  bar,  he 
tried  more  causes,  and  argued  more  questions  of  fact 
to  the  jury  than  perhaps  any  other  member  of  the 
profession  any  where.  I  have  heard  from  others,  how 
even  then  he  exemplified  the  same  direct,  clear,  and 
forcible  exhibition  of  proofs,  and  the  reasonings  ap 
propriate  to  the  proofs — as  well  as  the  same  marvel 
lous  power  of  discerning  instantly  what  we  call  the 
decisive  points  of  the  cause  in  law  and  fact— by 
which  he  was  later  more  widely  celebrated.  This 
was  the  first  epoch  in  his  professional  training. 

With  the  commencement  of  his  public  life,  or 
with  his  later  removal  to  this  State,  began  the 
second  epoch  of  his  professional  training — con 
ducting  him  through  the  gradation  of  the  national 
tribunals  to  the  study  and  practice  of  the  more  flex 
ible,  elegant,  and  scientific  jurisprudence  of  Com 
merce  and  of  Chancery,  and  to  the  grander  and  less 
fettered  investigation  of  international  jurisprudence 


RUFUS    CHOATF/S    SPEECH.  177 


and  constitutional  law — and  giving  him  to  breathe 
the  air  of  a  more  famous  forum,  in  a  more  public  pre 
sence,  with  more  variety  of  competition  j  although  he 
never  met  abler  men,  as  I  have  heard  him  say,  than 
some  of  those  who  initiated  him  in  the  rugged  disci 
pline  of  the  Courts  of  New  Hampshire  ;  and  thus,  at 
length,  by  these  studies,  these  labors,  this  contention, 
continued  without  repose,  he  came,  now  many  years 
ago,  to  stand,  omnium  consentu,  at  the  summit  of 
the  American  Bar. 

It  is  common,  and  it  is  easy,  in  the  case  of  all  in 
such  position,  to  point  out  other  Iawyers3  here  and  there, 
as  possessing  some  special  qualification  or  attainment 
more  remarkably,  perhaps,  because  more  exclusively  ; 
to  say  of  one  that  he  has  more  cases  in  his  recollec 
tion,  at  any  given  moment ;  or  that  he  was  earlier 
grounded  in  equity ;  or  has  gathered  more  black-let 
ter,  or  civil  law,  or  knowledge  of  Spanish  or  Western 
titles  5  and  these  comparisons  were  sometimes  made 
with  him.  But  when  you  sought  a  counsel  of  the 
first  rate  for  the  great  cause,  who  would  most  surely 
discern  and  most  powerfully  expound  the  exact  law 
required  for  the  controversy,  in  season  for  use; 
who  could  most  skilfully  encounter  the  opposing 
law ;  under  whose  power  of  analysis,  persuasion 
and  display,  the  asserted  right  would  assume  the 
most  forcible  aspect  before  the  intelligence  of  the 
Judge ;  who,  if  the  inquiry  became  loaded  with,  or 
resolved  into  facts,  could  most  completely  develope 
and  most  irresistibly  expose  them  ;  one  "  the  Law's 
whole  thunder  born  to  wield" — when  you  sought  such  a 
counsel,  and  could  have  the  choice,  I  think  the  uni- 

VOL.  II.  8* 


178  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

versal  profession  would  have  turned  to  him.  And 
this  would  be  so  in  nearly  every  description  of  causes. 
In  any  department,  some  able  men  wield  civil  inqui 
ries  with  a  peculiar  ability — some  criminal.  How 
lucidly  and  how  deeply  he  unfolded  a  question  of 
property,  you  all  know.  But  then  with  what  address, 
feeling,  and  pathos,  he  defended ;  with  what  dignity 
and  crushing  power,  accusatoria  spiritu,  he  prose 
cuted  the  accused  of  crime,  few  have  seen ;  but  none 
who  have  seen  can  ever  forget  it. 

Some  scenes  there  are — some  Alpine  eminences 
rising  above  the  high  table-land  of  such  a  professional 
life,  to  which,  in  the  briefest  tribute,  we  should  love 
to  follow  him.  We  recall  that  day  for  an  illustra 
tion,  when  he  first  announced  with  decisive  display, 
what  manner  of  man  he  was  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  Nation,  It  was  in  1818,  and  it  was  in  the  ar 
gument  of  the  case  of  the  Dartmouth  College.  Wil 
liam  Pinkney  was  recruiting  his  great  faculties,  and 
replenishing  that  reservoir  of  professional  and  elegant 
acquisition  in  Europe.  Samuel  Dexter.  "  the  honor 
able  man,  and  the  councillor,  and  the  elegant  orator," 
was  in  his  grave.  The  boundless  old  school  learning 
of  Luther  Martin  ;  the  silver  voice  and  infinite  ana 
lytical  ingenuity  and  resources  of  Jones,  the  fervid 
genius  of  Emmett,  pouring  itself  along  immense  ore : 
the  ripe  and  beautiful  culture  of  Wirt  and  Hopkin- 
son — the  steel  point  unseen,  not  unfelt,  beneath  the 
foliage  ;  these  and  such  as  these  were  left  of  that  no 
ble  Bar.  That  day,  Mr.  Webster  opened  the  case  of 
Dartmouth  College  to  a  tribunal  unsurpassed  on 


RUFUS  CIIOATE'S  SPEECH.  179 

earth  in  all  that  gives   illustration  to  a  Bench   of 
Law,  not  one  of  whom  any  longer  survives. 

One  would  love  to  linger  on  the  scene,  when,  after 
a  masterly  argument  of  the  law, — carrying,  as  we 
may  now  know,  conviction  to  the  general  mind  of  the 
court,  and  vindicating  and  settling  for  his  lifetime 
his  place  in  that  forum — he  paused  to  enter,  with  an 
altered  feeling,  tone  and  manner,  with  these  words, 
on  his  peroration :  "I  have  brought  my  alma  mater 
to  this  presence,  that  if  she  must  fall,  she  may  fall  in 
her  robes,  and  with  dignity  ;"  and  then  broke  forth  in 
that  strain  of  sublime  and  pathetic  eloquence,  of 
which  we  know  not  much  more  than  that  in  its  pro 
gress,  Marshall — the  intellectual,  the  self  controlled, 
the  unemotioned — announced  visibly  the  presence  of 
the  unaccustomed  enchantment. 

Other  forensic  triumphs  crowd  upon  us — in  other 
competition — with  other  issues.  But  I  must  commit 
them  to  the  historian  of  constitutional  jurisprudence. 
And  now,  if  this  transcendent  professional  reputa 
tion  were  all  of  Mr.  Webster,  it  might  be  practicable, 
though  not  easy,  to  find  its  parallel  elsewhere — in  our 
own,  or  in  European  or  classical  biography. 

But  when  you  consider  that,  side  by  side  with 
this,  there  was  growing  up  that  other  reputation — 
that  of  the  first  American  statesman ;  that  for  thirty- 
three  years — those  embracing  his  most  herculean 
works  at  the  Bar — he  was  engaged  as  a  member  of 
either  House,  or  in  the  highest  Executive  Depart 
ments,  in  the  conduct  of  the  largest  national  affairs ; 
in  the  treatment  of  the  largest  national  questions  ,  in 
debate  with  the  highest  abilities  of  American  public 


180  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

life;  conducting  diplomatic  intercourse  in  delicate 
relations  with  all  classes  of  foreign  powers ;  investi 
gating  whole  classes  of  truths,  totally  unlike  the 
truths  of  law,  and  resting  on  principles  totally  dis 
tinct, — and  that  here,  too,  he  was  wise,  safe,  control 
ling,  trusted,  the  foremost  man  ;  that  Europe  had 
come  to  see  in  his  life  a  guaranty  for  justice,  for 
peace,  for  the  best  hope  of  civilization — and  America 
to  feel  sure  of  her  glory,  her  safety,  as  a  great  arm 
enfolded  her  ; — you  see  how  rare,  how  solitary  almost 
was  the  actual  greatness  !  Who  anywhere  has  seen, 
as  he  had,  the  double  fame,  wore  the  double  wreath 
of  Murray  and  Chatham ;  or  of  Dunning  and  Fox ; 
or  of  Erskine  and  Pitt ;  or  of  William  Pinkney  and 
Rufus  King,  in  one  transcendent  superiority  ? 

I  cannot  attempt  to  grasp  and  sum  up  the  aggre 
gate  of  the  service  of  his  public  life  at  such  a  moment 
as  this — and  it  is  needless.  That  it  comprised  a  term 
of  more  than  thirty-three  years.  It  produced  a  body  of 
performances  of  which  I  may  say  generally,  it  was 
all  which  the  first  abilities  of  the  country  and  time, 
employed  with  unexampled  toil,  stimulated  by  the 
noblest  patriotism  ;  in  the  highest  places  of  the  state. 
— 'in  the  fear  of  God — in  the  presence  of  nations — 
could  possibly  compass. 

He  came  into  Congress  after  the  war  of  1812  had 
begun,  and  though  probably  deeming  it  unnecessary, 
according  to  the  highest  standards  of  public  necessity 
in  his  private  character — and  objecting  in  his  public 
to  some  of  the  details  of  the  policy  by  which  it  was 
prosecuted,  and  standing  by  party  ties  in  general  op 
position  to  the  administration — he  never  breathed  a 


RUFUS  CHOATE'S  SPEECH.  181 

sentiment  calculated  to  depress  the  tone  of  the  public 
mind ;  to  aid  or  comfort  the  enemy ;  to  check  or 
chill  the  stirrings  of  that  new  passionate,  unquench 
able  spirit  of  nationality,  which  then  was  revealed, 
or  kindled  to  burn  till  we  go  down  to  the  tombs  of 
States. 

With  the  peace  of  1815,  his  more  cherished  public 
labors  began ;  and  thenceforward  has  he  devoted  him 
self — the  ardor  of  his  civil  youth — the  energies  of  his 
maturest  manhood — the  autumnal  wisdom  of  the 
ripened  years — to  the  offices  of  legislation  and  diplo 
macy — of  preserving  the  peace — keeping  the  honor — 
establishing  the  boundaries,  and  vindicating  the  neu 
tral  rights  of  his  country — restoring  a  sound  curren 
cy,  and  laying  its  foundation  sure  and  deep — in  up 
holding  public  credit — in  promoting  foreign  com 
merce  and  domestic  industry — in  developing  our  un 
counted  material  resources — giving  the  lake  and  the 
river  to  trade — and  vindicating  and  interpreting  the 
Constitution  and  the  law.  On  all  these  subjects — on 
all  measures  practically  in  any  degree  affecting  them 
— he  has  inscribed  his  opinions,  and  left  the  traces  of 
his  hand.  Everywhere  the  philosophical  and  pa 
triotic  statesman  and  thinker  will  find  that  he  has 
been  before  him,  lighting  the  way — sounding  the 
abyss.  His  weighty  language — his  sagacious  warn 
ings — his  great  maxims  of  empire — will  be  raised  to 
view,  and  live  to  be  deciphered  when  the  final  catas 
trophe  shall  lift  the  granite  foundation  in  fragments 
from  its  bed. 

In  this  connection,  I  cannot  but  remark  to  how 
extraordinary  an  extent  had  Mr.  Webster,  by  his  acts, 


182  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

words,  thoughts,  or  the  events  of  his  life,  associated 
himself  for  ever  in  the  memory  of  all  of  us  with  every 
historical  incident,  or  at  least  with  every  historical 
epoch;  with  every  policy,  with  every  glory,  with  every 
great  name  and  fundamental  institution,  and  grand  or 
beautiful  image,  which  are  peculiarly  and  properly 
American.  Look  backwards  to  the  planting  of  Ply 
mouth  and  Jamestown,  to  the  various  scenes  of  Colo 
nial  life  in  peace  and  war ;  to  the  opening,  and  march, 
and  close  of  the  Revolutionary  drama — to  the  age  of 
the  Constitution — to  Washington,  and  Franklin,  and 
Adams,  and  Jefferson — to  the  whole  train  of  causes 
from  the  Reformation  downwards,  which  prepared  us 
to  be  Republicans — to  that  other  train  of  causes  which 
led  us  to  be  Unionists  ;  look  round  on  field,  work 
shop,  and  deck,  and  hear  the  music  of  labor  rewarded, 
fed  and  protected — look  on  the  bright  sisterhood  of 
the  States,  each  singing  as  a  seraph  in  her  motion,  yet 
blending  in  a  common  beam  and  swelling  a  common 
harmony — and  there  is  nothing  which  does  not  bring 
him  by  some  tie  to  the  memory  of  America. 

We  seem  to  see  his  form  and  hear  his  deep,  grave 
speech  every  where.  By  some  felicity  of  his  personal 
life ;  by  some  wise,  deep  or  beautiful  word  spoken  or 
written ;  by  some  service  of  his  own,  or  some  com 
memoration  of  the  services  of  others}  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  "our  granite  hills,  our  inland  seas,  and 
prairies,  and  fresh,  unbounded,  magnificent  wilder 
ness  ;"  our  encircling  ocean ;  the  rock  of  the  Pil 
grims  5  our  new-born  sister  of  the  Pacific ;  our  popu 
lar  assemblies  ;  our  free  schools,  all  our  cherished 
doctrines  of  education,  and  of  the  influence  of  reli- 


183 

gion,  and  material  policy  and  law,  and  the  Constitu 
tion,  give  us  back  his  name.  What  American  land 
scape  will  you  look  on — what  subject  of  American 
interest  will  you  study — what  source  of  hope  or  of 
anxiety,  as  an  American,  will  you  acknowledge,  that 
it  does  not  recall  him  ? 

I  shall  not  venture,  in  this  rapid  and  general  re 
collection  of  Mr.  Webster,  to  attempt  to  analyze  that 
intellectual  power  which  all  admit  to  have  been  so 
extraordinary,  or  to  compare  or  contrast  it  with  the 
mental  greatness  of  others — in  variety  or  degree — of 
the  living  or  the  dead  ;  or  even  to  attempt  to  appreciate 
exactly,  and  in  reference  to  canons  of  art,  his  single 
attribute  of  eloquence.  Consider,  however,  the  re 
markable  phenomenon  of  excellence  in  three  un* 
kindred,  one  might  have  thought,  incompatible  forms 
of  public  speech— that  of  the  forum,  with  its  double 
audience  of  Bench  and  jury — of  the  halls  of  legisla 
tion — and  of  the  most  thronged  and  tumultuous 
assemblies  of  the  people. 

Consider  further,  that  this  multiform  eloquence, 
exactly  as  his  words  fell,  became  at  once  so  much  ac 
cession  to  permanent  literature,  in  the  strictest  sense 
— solid,  attractive,  and  rich — and  ask  how  often  in 
the  history  of  public  life  such  a  thing  has  been  exem 
plified.  Recall  what  pervaded  all  these  forms  of 
display,  and  every  effort  in  every  form,  that  union  of 
marked  intellect  in  its  largest  measure,  which  pene 
trates  to  the  exact  truth  of  the  matter  in  hand  by 
intuition,  or  by  inference,  and  discerns  everything 
which  may  make  it  intelligible,  probable,  and  credita 
ble  to  another,  with  an  emotional  and  moral  nature, 


184  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

profound,  passionate,  and  ready  to  kindle,  and  with 
imagination  enough  to  supply  a  hundred-fold  more  of 
illustration  and  aggrandizement  than  his  taste  suf 
fered  him  to  accept — that  union  of  greatness  of  soul 
with  depth  of  heart,  which  made  his  speaking  almost 
more  an  exhibition  of  character  than  of  mere  genius 
— the  style  not  merely  pure,  clear  Saxon,  but  so  con 
structed,  so  numerous  as  far  as  becomes  prose,  so 
forcible,  so  abounding  in  unlabored  felicities,  the 
words  so  choice,  the  epithet  so  pictured,  the  matter 
absolute  truth,  or  the  most  exact  and  spacious  resem 
blance  the  human  wit  can  devise,  the  treatment  of 

•      * 

the  subject,  if  you  have  regard  to  the  kind  of  truth 
he  had  to  handle,  political,  ethical,  legal,  as  deep,  as 
complete  as  Paley's.  or  Locke's,  or  Butler's,  or  Alex 
ander  Hamilton's,  of  their  subjects,  yet  that  depth 
and  that  completeness  of  sense,  made  transparent  as 
through  crystal  waters — all  embodied  in  harmonious 
or  well-composed  periods ;  raised  on  winged  language, 
vivified,  fused  and  poured  along  in  a  tide  of  emotion, 
fervid  and  incapable  to  be  withstood — recall  the  form, 
the  eye,  the  brow,  the  tone  of  voice,  the  presence  of 
the  intellectual  king  of  men — recall  him  thus,  and  in 
the  language  of  Mr.  Justice  Story,  commemorating 
Samuel  Dexter,  we  may  well  rejoice  that  "  we  have 
lived  in  the  same  age,  that  we  have  listened  to  his 
eloquence,  and  been  instructed  by  his  wisdom." 

I  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  his  eloquence  with' 
out  returning  to  a  thought  I  have  advanced  already. 
All  that  he  has  left — or  the  larger  portion  of  all — 
is  the  record  of  spoken  words.  His  works,  as  already 
collected,  extend  to  many  volumes — a  library  of  rea* 


185 

Bon  and  eloquence,  as  Gibbon  has  said  of  Cicero's — 
but  they  are  volumes  of  speeches  only,  or  mainly ; 
and  yet  who  does  not  rank  him  as  a  great  American 
author — an  author  as  truly  expounding,  and  as  char 
acteristically  exemplifying,  in  a  pure,  genuine  and 
harmonious  English  style,  the  mind,  thought,  point 
of  view  of  objects,  and  essential  nationality  of  his 
country,  as  any  of  our  authors,  professionally  so  de 
nominated?  Against  the  maxim  of  Mr.  Fox,  his 
speeches  read  well,  and  yet  were  good  speeches,  great 
speeches  in  the  delivery.  For  so  grave  were  they, 
so  thoughtful  and  true — so  much  the  eloquence  of 
reason  at  last — so  strikingly,  always,  they  contrived 
to  link  the  immediate  topic  with  other  and  broader 
principles ;  ascending  easily  to  widest  generaliza 
tions — so  happy  was  the  reconciliation  of  the  quali 
ties  which  engage  the  attention  of  hearers,  yet  re 
ward  the  perusal  of  students — so  critically  did  they 
keep  the  right  side  of  the  line  which  parts  eloquence 
from  rhetoric,  and  so  far  do  they  rise  above  the  pen 
ury  of  mere  debate,  that  the  general  reason  of  the 
country  has  enshrined  them  at  once  and  for  ever 
among  our  classics. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that  Mr.  Webster  was  a 
various  reader ;  and  I  think  it  is  true,  even  to  a 
greater  degree  than  has  been  believed.  In  his  pro 
fession  of  politics,  nothing,  I  think,  worthy  of  atten 
tion,  had  escaped  him — nothing  of  the  ancient  or 
modern  prudence,  nothing  which  Greek  or  Roman,  or 
European,  or  Universal  History,  or  public  Biography 
exemplified.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  with  what  admi 
ration  he  spoke  at  an  interview  to  which  he  admit- 


186  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    "WEBSTER. 

ted  me  while  in  the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  of 
the  politics  and  ethics  of  Aristotle,  and  of  the  mighty 
mind,  which,  as  he  said,  seemed  to  have  "  thought 
through  "  all  the  great  problems  which  form  the  dis 
cipline  of  social  man.  American  history  and  Amer 
ican  political  literature,  he  had  by  heart — the  long 
series  of  influences  which  trained  us  for  representa 
tive  and  free  government ; — that  other  series  of  in 
fluences  which  moulded  us  into  an  united  government ; 
the  colonial  era ;  the  age  of  controversy  before  the 
revolution ;  every  scene  and  every  person  in  that 
great  tragic  action ;  every  question  which  has  suc 
cessively  engaged  our  politics,  and  every  name  which 
has  figured  in  them — the  whole  stream  of  our  time 
was  open,  clear  and  present,  even,  to  his  eye. 

Beyond  his  profession  of  politics,  so  to  call  it,  he 
had  been  a  diligent  and  choice  reader,  as  his  extra 
ordinary  style  in  part  reveals,  and  I  think  the  love 
of  reading  would  have  gone  with  him,  to  a  later  and 
riper  age,  if  to  such  an  age  it  had  been  the  will  of 
God  to  reserve  him.  This  is  no  place  or  time  to  ap 
preciate  this  branch  of  his  acquisitions  ;  but  there  is 
an  interest  inexpressible  in  knowing  who  were  any  of 
the  chosen  from  among  the  great  dead,  in  the  library 
of  such  a  man.  Others  may  correct  me,but  I  should  say 
of  that  interior  and  narrower  circle  were  Cicero,  Virgil, 
Shakspeare,  Bacon,  Milton,  Burke,  Johnson — to  whom 
I  hope  it  is  not  pedantic  nor  fanciful  to  say,  I  often 
thought  his  nature  presented  some  resemblance ;  the 
same  abundance  of  the  general  propositions  required 
for  explaining  a  difficulty  and  returning  a  sophism, 
copiously  and  promptly  occurring  to  him. — the  sarno 


187 

kindness  of  heart  and  wealth  of  sensibility  ;  under  a 
manner,  of  course,  more  courteous  and  gracious,  yet 
more  sovereign  ;  the  same  sufficient,  yet  not  predom 
inant  imagination,  stooping  ever  to  truth,  and  giving 
affluence,  vivacity  and  attraction  to  a  powerful,  cor 
rect  and  weighty  style  of  prose. 

I  cannot  leave  his  life  and  character,  without  se 
lecting  and  dwelling  a  moment  on  one  or  two  of  his 
traits,  or  virtues,  or  facilities,  a  little  longer.  There 
is  a  collective  impression  made  by  the  whole  of  an 
eminent  person's  life,  beyond  and  other  than,  and 
apart  from,  that  which  the  mere  general  biogra 
pher  would  afford  the  means  of  explaining.  There 
is  an  influence  of  a  great  man,  derived  from  things, 
indescribable  almost,  or  incapable  of  enumeration,  or 
singly  insufficient  to  account  for  it,  but  through  which 
his  spirit  transpires,  and  his  individuality  goes  forth 
on  the  contemporary  generation.  And  thus,  I  should 
say,  one  great  tendency  of  his  life  and  character  was, 
to  elevate  the  whole  tone  of  the  public  mind.  He 
did  this,  indeed,  not  merely  by  example ;  he  did  it 
by  dealing,  as  he  thought,  truly  and  in  manly  fashion, 
with  that  public  mind.  He  evinced  -his  love  for  the 
people,  not  so  much  by  honeyed  phrases,  as  by  good 
counsels  and  useful  service — vera  pro  gratis. 

He  showed  how  he  appreciated  them,  by  submit 
ting  sound  arguments  to  their  understandings,  and 
right  motives  to  their  free  will.  He  came  before 
them  less  with  flattery  than  with  instruction ;  less 
with  a  vocabulary  larded  with  the  words  humanity 
and  philanthropy,  and  progress  and  brotherhood,  than 
with  a  scheme  of  politics,  an  educational,  social  and 


188  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

governmental  system,  which  would  have  made  them 
prosperous,  happy  and  great. 

What  the  Greek  historians  said  of  Pericles,  we 
all  feel  might  be  said  of  him — "  He  did  not  so  much 
follow  as  lead  the  people,  because  he  framed  not  his 
words  to  please  them,  like  one  who  is  gaining  power 
by  unworthy  means,  but  was  able,  and  dared  on  the 
strength  of  high  character,  even  to  brave  their  anger 
by  contradicting  their  will." 

I  should  indicate  it  as  another  influence  of  his 
life,  acts  and  opinions,  that  it  was  in  an  extraordinary 
degree  uniformly  and  liberally  conservative.  He  saw 
with  the  vision  as  of  a  prophet,  that  if  our  system  of 
united  government  can  be  maintained  till  a  national 
ity  shall  be  generated  of  due  intensity  and  due  com 
prehension,  a  glory  indeed  millennial,  a  progress  with 
out  end — a  triumph  of  humanity  hitherto  unseen — 
were  ours,  and  therefore  he  addressed  himself  to 
maintain  that  united  government. 

Standing  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth,  he  bid  dis 
tant  generations  hail,  and  saw  them  rising — demand 
ing  life — "  impatient  from  the  skies,"  from  what  then 
were  "  fresh,  unbounded,  magnificent  wildernesses  " — 
from  the  shore  *of  the  great  tranquil  sea — not  yet 
become  ours.  But  observe  to  what  he  would  wel 
come  them.  It  is  "  to  good  government."  It  is  to 
"  treasures  of  science  and  delights  of  learning."  It 
is  to  the  "  sweets  of  domestic  life — the  immeasurable 
good  of  a  rational  existence — the  immortal  hopes  of 
Christianity — the  light  of  everlasting  truth." 

It  will  be  happy,  if  the  wisdom  and  temper  of  his 
administration  of  our  foreign  affairs,  shall  preside 


RUFUS  CIIOATE'S  SPEECH.  189 

in  the  time  which  is  at  hand.  Sobered,  instructed 
by  the  examples  and  warnings  of  all  the  past,  he  yet 
gathered,  from  the  study  and  comparison  of  all  the 
eras,  that  there  is  a  silent  progress  of  the  race  with 
out  return,  to  which  the  counsellings  of  history  are 
to  be  accommodated  by  a  wise  philosophy.  More 
than,  or  as  much  as  that  of  any  of  our  public  char 
acters,  his  statesmanship  was  one  which  recognized  a 
Europe,  an  Old  World,  but  yet  grasped  the  capital 
idea  of  the  American  position,  and  deduced  from  it 
the  whole  fashion  and  color  of  its  policy ;  which  dis 
cerned  that  we  are  to  play  a  high  part  in  human  af 
fairs,  but  discerned  also,  what  part  it  is,  peculiar,  dis 
tant,  distinct  and  grand,  as  our  hemisphere ;  an  in 
fluence,  not  a  contact — the  stage — the  drama — the  ca 
tastrophe,  all  but  the  audience,  all  our  own,  and  if 
ever  he  felt  himself  at  a  loss,  he  consulted,  reverently, 
the  genius  of  WASHINGTON. 

In  bringing  these  memories  to  a  conclusion,  for  I 
omit  many  things  because  I  dare  not  trust  myself  to 
speak  of  them — I  shall  not  be  misunderstood  or  give 
offence,  if  I  hope  that  one  other  trait  in  his  public 
character,  one  doctrine,  rather,  of  his  political  creed, 
may  be  remembered  and  appreciated.  It  is  one  of 
the  two  fundamental  precepts  in  which  Plato,  as  ex 
pounded  by  the  great  master  of  Latin  eloquence,  and 
reason  and  morals,  comprehends  the  duty  of  those 
who  share  in  the  conduct  of  the  State,  "  Ut  qucecun- 
que  agunt,  TOTUM  corpus  reipublicce  curent  ne- 
dum  partem  aliquam  tuentur,  reliquas  deserant" 
that  they  comprise  in  their  care,  the  whole  body  of 
the  republic,  nor  keep  one  part  and  desert  another. 


190  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

He  gives  the  reason,  one  reason,  of  the  precept,  "  Qui 
autem  parti  civium  consulant,  partem  negligunt 
rem  perniciosissimam  in  civitatem  inducunt  scditi- 
onem  atque  discordiam"  The  patriotism  which  em 
braces  less  than  the  whole,  induces  sedition  and  dis 
cord,  the  last  evil  of  the  State. 

How  profoundly  he  had  comprehended  this  truth 
— with  what  persistency — with  what  passion,  from 
the  first  hour  he  became  a  public  man  to  the  last  beat 
of  the  great  heart,  he  cherished  it — how  little  he  ac 
counted  the  good,  the  praise,  the  blame — of  this  lo 
cality  or  that — in  comparison  of  the  larger  good  and 
the  general  and  thoughtful  approval  of  his  own,  and 
our,  whole  America, — she  this  day  feels  and  announ 
ces.  Wheresoever  a  drop  of  her  blood  flows  in  the 
veins  of  man,  this  trait  is  felt  and  appreciated.  The 
hunter  beyond  Superior — the  fisherman  on  the  deck  of 
the  nigh  night-foundered  skiff — the  sailor  on  the  utter 
most  sea — will  feel,  as  he  hears  these  tidings,  that 
the  protection  of  a  sleepless,  all-embracing,  parental 
care,  is  withdrawn  from  him  for  a  space — and  that 
his  pathway  henceforward,  is  more  solitary  and  less 
safe  than  before. 

But  I  cannot  pursue  these  thoughts.  Among 
the  eulogists  who  have  just  uttered  the  eloquent  sor 
row  of  England  at  the  death  of  the  great  Duke — one 
has  employed  an  image  and  an  idea,  which  I  venture 
to  modify  and  appropriate. 

"  The  Northman's  image  of  death  is  finer  than 
that  of  other  climes  ;  no  skeleton,  but  a  gigantic  fig 
ure,  that  envelopes  men  within  the  massive  folds  of 
its  dark  garment.  Webster  seems  so  enshrouded 


RUFUS  CHOATE'S  SPEECH.  191 

from  us  as  the  last  of  the  mighty  three,  themselves 
following  a  mighty  series  ;  the  greatest  closing  the 
procession.  The  robe  draws  round  him,  and  the  era 
is  past." 

Yet  how  much  there  is  which  that  all-ample  fold 
shall  not  hide  ;  the  recorded  wisdom  ;  the  great  ex 
ample  ;  the  assured  immortality. 

They  speak  of  moments ! 

Nothing  need  cover  his  high  fame  but  heaven, 

No  pyramids  set  off  his  memories, 

But  the  eternal  substance  of  his  greatness, 

TO  -WHICH  I  LEAVE  HIM. 


EULOGY  PRONOUNCED  IN  FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON, 
NOVEMBER  30,  1852,  BY  GEORGE  S.  HILLARD, 
ESQ. 


It  is  now  twenty-six  years  since  the  heart  of  the 
nation  was  so  deeply  moved  by  the  death  of  two  great 
founders  of  the  Republic,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  day  when  its  independence  was  declared.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  these  consecrated  walls  wore  the 
weeds  of  mourning.  Then  the  multitude  that  filled 
this  hall  were  addressed  by  a  man  whose  thoughts 
rose  without  effort  to  the  height  of  his  great  theme. 
He  seemed  inspired  by  the  occasion,  and  he  looked 
and  spoke  like  one  on  whom  the  mantle  of  some  as 
cended  prophet  had  at  that  moment  fallen.  He 
lifted  up  and  bore  aloft  his  audience  on  the  wings  of 
his  mighty  eloquence.  His  words  fell  upon  his  hear 
ers  with  irresistible  subduing  power,  and  their  hearts 
poured  themselves  forth  in  one  deep  and  strong  tide 
of  patriotic  and  reverential  feeling. 

And  now  he,  that  was  then  so  full  of  life  and 
power,  has  gone  to  join  the  patriots  whom  he  com 
memorated.  Webster  is  no  more  than  Adams  and 
Jefferson.  The  people,  that  then  came  to  listen  to 
him,  are  now  here  to  mourn  for  him.  His  voice  of 
wisdom  and  eloquence  is  silent.  The  arm  on  which 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  193 

a  nation  leaned  is  stark  and  cold.  The  heroic  form 
is  given  back  to  the  dust.  We  that  delighted  to 
honor  him  in  life,  are  now  here  to  honor  him  in  death. 
One  circle  of  duties  is  ended  and  another  is  begun. 
"We  can  no  longer  give  him  our  confidence,  our  sup 
port,  our  suffrages;  but  memory  and  gratitude  are 
still  left  to  us.  As  he  has  not  lived  for  himself  alone, 
so  he  has  not  died  for  himself  alone.  The  services 
of  his  life  are  crowned  and  sealed  with  the  benedic 
tion  of  his  death.  So  long  as  a  man  remains  upon 
earth,  his  life  is  a  fragment.  It  is  exposed  to  chance 
and  change,  to  the  shocks  of  fate  and  the  assaults  of 
trial.  But  the  end  crowns  the  work.  A  career  that 
is  closed  becomes  a  firm  possession  and  a  completed 
power.  The  arch  is  imperfect  till  the  hand  of  death 
has  fixed  the  keystone. 

The  custom  of  honoring  great  public  benefactors 
by  these  solemn  observances  is  natural,  just  and  wise. 
But  the  tributes  and  testimonials  which  we  offer  to 
departed  worth  are  for  the  living,  and  not  for  the 
dead.  Eulogies,  monuments,  and  statues  can  add 
nothing  to  the  peace  and  joy  of  that  serene  sphere 
into  which  the  great  and  good,  who  have  finished 
their  earthly  career,  have  passed.  But  these  expres 
sions  and  memorials  do  good  to  those  from  whom 
they  flow.  They  lift  us  above  the  region  of  low  cares 
and  selfish  struggles.  They  link  the  present  to  the 
past,  and  the  world  of  sense  to  the  world  of  thought. 
They  break  the  common  course  of  life  with  feelings 
brought  from  a  higher  region.  Who  can  measure  the 
effect  of  a  scene  like  this — these  mourning  walls — 
these  saddened  faces — those  solemn  strains  of  music? 


194  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

The  seed  of  a  deep  emotion  here  planted  may  ripen 
into  the  fruit  of  noble  action. 

A  great  man  is  a  gift,  in  some  measure,  a  reve 
lation  of  God.  A  great  man,  living  for  high  ends,  is 
the  diyinest  thing  that  can  be  seen  on  earth.  The 
value  and  interest  of  history  are  derived  chiefly  from 
the  lives  and  services  of  the  eminent  men  whom  it 
commemorates.  Indeed,  without  these,  there  would 
be  no  such  thing  as  history,  and  the  progress  of  a 
nation  would  be  as  little  worth  recording,  as  the 
march  of  a  trading  caravan  across  a  desert.  The 
death  of  Mr.  Webster  is  too  recent,  and  he  was  taken 
away  too  suddenly  from  a  sphere  of  wide  and  great 
influence,  for  the  calm  verdict  of  history  to  be  passed 
upon  him,  and  an  accurate  gauge  to  be  taken  of  his 
works  and  claims.  But  all  men,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  countenance  they  turned  towards  him  in  life, 
now  feel  that  he  was  a  man  of  the  highest  order  of 
greatness,  and  that  whatever  of  power,  faculty  and 
knowledge  there  was  in  him,  was  given  freely,  heartily, 
and  during  a  long  course  of  years,  to  the  service  of 
I  is  country.  He,  who  in  the  judgment  of  all,  was  a 
great  man  and  a  great  patriot,  not  only  deserves 
these  honors  at  our  hands,  but  it  would  be  disgraceful 
in  us  to  withhold  them.  We  among  whom  he  lived, 
who  felt  the  power  of  his  magnificent  presence, — his 
brow,  his  eyes,  his  voice,  his  bearing, — can  never  put 
him  anywhere  but  in  the  front  rank  of  the  great  men 
of  all  time.  In  running  along  the  line  of  statesmen 
and  orators,  we  light  upon  the  name  of  no  one  to 
whom  we  are  willing  to  admit  his  inferiority. 

The  theory  that  a  great  man  is  merely  the  pro- 


195 

duct  of  his  age,  is  rejected  by  the  common  sense  and 
common  observation  of  mankind.  The  power  that 
guides  large  masses  of  men,  and  shapes  the  channels 
in  which  the  energies  of  a  great  people  flow,  is  some 
thing  more  than  a  mere  aggregate  of  derivative  forces. 
It  is  a  compound  product,  in  which  the  genius  of  the 
man  is  one  element,  and  the  sphere  opened  to  him  by 
the  character  of  his  age  and  the  institutions  of  his 
country,  is  another.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Webster,  we 
have  a  full  co-operation  of  these  two  elements.  Not 
only  did  he  find  opportunities  for  his  great  powers, 
but  the  events  of  his  life,  and  the  discipline  through 
which  he  passed,  were  well  fitted  to  train  him  up 
to  that  commanding  intellectual  stature,  and  perfect 
intellectual  symmetry,  which  have  made  him  so  ad 
mirable,  so  eminent,  and  so  useful  a  person. 

He  was  fortunate  in  the  accident,  or  rather  the 
providence,  of  his  birth.  His  father  was  a  man  of 
uncommon  strength  of  mind  and  worth  of  character, 
who  had  served  his  country  faithfully  in  trying  times, 
and  earned  in  a  high  degree  the  respect  and  confi 
dence  of  his  neighbors — a  man  of  large  and  loving 
heart,  whose  efforts  and  sacrifices  for  his  children  were 
repaid  by  them  with  most  aifectionate  veneration. 
The  energy  and  good  sense  of  his  mother  exerted  a 
strong  influence  upon  the  minds  and  characters  of  her 
children.  He  was  born  to  the  discipline  of  poverty  ; 
but  a  poverty  such  as  braces  and  stimulates,  not  such 
as  crushes  and  paralyzes.  The  region  in  which  his 
boyhood  was  passed  was  new  and  wild,  books  were  not 
easy  to  be  had,  schools  were  only  an  occasional  privi 
lege,  and  intercourse  with  the  more  settled  parts  oi 


196  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

the  country  was  difficult  and  rare.  But  this  scarcity 
of  mental  food  and  mental  excitement  had  its  advan 
tages,  and  his  training  was  good,  however  imperfect 
his  teaching  might  have  been.  His  labors  upon  the 
farm  helped  to  form  that  vigorous  constitution  which 
enabled  him  to  sustain  the  immense  pressure  of  cares 
and  duties  laid  upon  him  in  after  years.  Such  books 
as  he  could  procure  were  read  with  the  whole  heart 
and  the  whole  mind.  The  conversation  of  a  house 
hold,  presided  over  by  a  strong-minded  father,  and  a 
sensible,  loving  mother,  helped  to  train  the  faculties 
of  the  younger  members  of  the  family.  Nor  were 
their  winter  evenings  wanting  in  topics  which  had  a 
fresher  interest  than  any  which  books  could  furnish. 
There  were  stirring  tales  of  the  revolutionary  struggle 
and  the  old  French  war,  in  both  of  which  his  father 
had  taken  a  part,  with  moving  traditions  of  the  hard 
ships  and  perils  of  border  life,  and  harrowing  narra 
tives  of  Indian  captivity,  all  of  which  sunk  deep  into 
the  heart  of  the  impressible  boy.  The  ample  page  of 
nature  was  ever  before  his  eyes,  not  beautiful  or  pic 
turesque,  but  stern,  wild  and  solitary,  covered  with  a 
primeval  forest :  in  winter,  swept  over  by  tremendous 
storms,  but  in  summer,  putting  on  a  short-lived  grace, 
and  in  autumn,  glowing  with  an  imperial  pomp  of 
coloring.  In  the  deep,  lonely  woods,  by  the  rushing 
streams,  under  the  frosty  stars  of  winter,  the  musing 
boy  gathered  food  for  his  growing  mind.  There  to 
him  the  mighty  mother  unveiled  her  awful  face,  and 
there  we  may  be  sure  that  the  dauntless  child  stretch 
ed  forth  his  hands  and  smiled.  We  feel  a  pensive 
pleasure  in  calling  up  the  image  of  this  slender,  dark- 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  19Y 

browed,  bright-eyed  youth,  going  forth  in  the  morning 
of  life  to  sow  the  seed  of  future  years.  A  loving 
brother,  and  a  loving  and  dutiful  son,  he  is  cheerful 
under  privation,  and  patient  under  restraint.  What 
ever  work  he  finds  to  do,  whether  with  the  brain  or 
the  hand,  he  does  it  with  all  his  might.  He  opens 
his  mind  to  every  ray  of  knowledge  that  breaks  in 
upon  him.  Every  step  is  a  progress,  and  every  blow 
removes  an  obstacle.  Onward,  ever  onward,  he 
moves ;  borne  <:  against  the  wind,  against  the  tide," 
by  an  impulse  self-derived  and  self-sustained.  He 
makes  friends,  awakens  interest,  inspires  hopes.  Thus, 
with  these  good  angels  about  him,  he  passes  from 
boyhood  to  youth,  and  from  youth  to  early  man 
hood.  The  school  and  the  college  have  given  him 
what  they  had  to  give ;  an  excellent  professional 
training  has  been  secured ;  and  now,  with  a  vigorous 
frame  and  a  spirit  patient  of  labor,  with  manly  self- 
reliance,  and  a  heart  glowing  with  generous  ambition 
and  warm  affections,  the  man,  Daniel  Webster,  steps, 
forth  into  the  arena  of  life. 

From  this  point  his  progress  follows  the  natural 
law  of  growth,  and  every  advance  is  justified  and 
explained  by  what  had  gone  before.  For  every  thing 
that  he  gains  he  has  a  perfect  title  to  show.  He  is 
borne  on  by  no  fortunate  accident.  The  increase  of 
his  influence  keeps  no  more  than  pace  with  the  growth 
of  his  mind  and  the  development  of  his  character. 
He  is  diligent  in  his  calling,  and  faithful  to  the  inter 
ests  intrusted  to  his  charge.  His  professional  bear 
ing  is  manly  and  elevated.  He  has  the  confidence  of 
the  Court,  and  the  ear  of  the  jury,  and  has  fairly 


195  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

earned  them  both.  His  business  increases,  his  repu 
tation  is  extended,  and  he  becomes  a  marked  man. 
He  is  not  only  equal  to  every  occasion,  but  he  always 
leaves  the  impression  of  having  power  in  reserve,  and 
of  being  capable  of  still  greater  efforts.  What  he 
does  is  judicious,  and  what  he  says  is  wise.  He  is 
not  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps  or  qualify  his  state 
ments.  He  blends  the  dignity  and  self-command  of 
mature  life  with  the  ardor  and  energy  of  youth.  To 
such  a  man,  in  our  country,  public  life  becomes  a  sort 
of  necessity.  A  brief  service  in  Congress  wins  for 
him  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  country,  who  see  with  astonishment  in  a  young 
New-Hampshire  lawyer,  the  large  views  of  a  ripe 
statesman,  and  a  generous  and  comprehensive  tone  of 
discussion,  free  alike  from  party  bias,  and  sectional 
narrowness.  A  removal  to  the  metropolis  of  New- 
England  brings  increase  of  professional  opportunity, 
and  in  a  few  years  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Bar 
of  the  whole  country.  Public  life  is  again  thrust 
upon  him,  and  at  one  stride  he  moves  to  the  foremost 
rank  of  influence  and  consideration.  His  prodigious 
powers  of  argument  and  eloquence,  freely  given  to  an 
administration  opposed  to  him  in  politics,  crush  a 
dangerous  political  heresy,  and  kindle  a  deeper  na 
tional  sentiment.  The  whole  land  rings  with  his 
name  and  praise,  and  foreign  nations  take  up  and 
prolong  the  sound.  Every  year  brings  higher  trusts, 
weightier  responsibilities,  wider  influence,  until  his 
country  reposes  in  the  shadow  of  his  wisdom,  and  the 
power  that  proceeds  from  his  mind  and  character  be- 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  199 


comes  one  of  the  controlling  forces  in  the  movements 
and  relations  of  the  civilized  world. 

To  trace,  step  by  step,  the  incidents  of  such  a 
career,  would  far  transcend  the  limits  of  a  discourse 
like  this,  and  of  all  places,  it  is  least  needed  here. 
Judging  of  him  by  what  he  was,  as  well  as  by  what 
he  did,  and  analyzing  the  aggregate  of  his  powers,  we 
observe  that  his  life  moves  in  three  distinct  paths  of 
greatness.  %He  was  a  great  lawyer,  a  great  states 
man,  and  a  great  writer.  The  gifts  and  training, 
which  make  a  man  eminent  in  any  one  of  these  de 
partments,  are  by  no  means  identical  with  those  which 
make  him  eminent  in  any  other.  Very  few  have  at 
tained  high  rank  in  any  two ;  and  the  distinction 
which  Mr.  Webster  reached  in  all  the  three  is  almost 
without  parallel  in  history. 

He  was,  from  the  beginning,  more  or  less  occu 
pied  with  public  affairs*  and  he  continued  to  the  last 
to  be  a  practising  lawyer ;  but  as  regards  these  two 
spheres  of  action,  his  life  may  be  divided  into  two 
distinct  portions.  From  his  twenty-third  to  his 
forty-first  year,  the  practice  of  the  law  was  his 
primary  occupation  and  interest,  but  from  the  latter 
period  to  his  death,  it  was  secondary  to  his  labors  as 
a  legislator  and  statesman.  Of  his  eminence  in  the 
|aw — meaning  the  law  as  administered  in  the  ordinary 
tribunals  of  the  country,  without  reference,  for  the 
present,  to  constitutional  questions — there  is  but  one 
opinion  among  competent  judges.  Some  may  have 
excelled  him  in  a  single  faculty  or  accomplishment, 
but  in  the  combination,  of  qualities  which  the  law 
requires,  no  man  of  his  time  was  on  the  whole  equal 


200  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

to  him.  He  was  a  safe  counsellor  and  a  powerful 
advocate — thorough  in  the  preparation  of  causes  and 
judicious  in  the  management  of  them — quick,  far- 
seeing,  cautious  and  bold.  His  addresses  to  the 
jury  were  simple,  manly,  and  direct ;  presenting  tho 
strong  points  of  the  case  in  his  strong  way,  appealing 
to  the  reason  and  the  conscience,  and  not  to  passions 
and  prejudices,  and  never  weakened  by  over-state 
ment.  He  laid  his  own  mind  fairly  alongside  that  of 
the  jury,  and  won  their  confidence  by  his  sincere 
way  of  dealing  with  them.  He  had  the  grace  to 
cease  speaking  when  he  had  come  to  an  end.  His 
most  conspicuous  power  was  his  clearness  of  state 
ment.  He  threw  upon  every  subject  a  light  like  that 
of  the  sun  at  noonday.  His  mind,  by  an  unerring 
instinct,  separated  the  important  from  the  unim 
portant  facts  in  a  complicated  case,  and  so  presented 
the  former,  that  he  was  rearlly  making  a  powerful 
and  persuasive  argument,  when  he  seemed  to  be  tell 
ing  only  a  plain  story  in  a  plain  way.  The  trans 
parency  of  the  stream  veiled  its  depth,  and  its  depth 
concealed  its  rapid  flow.  His  legal  learning  was 
accurate  and  perfectly  at  command,  and  he  had  made 
himself  master  of  some  difficult  branches  of  law,  such 
as  special  pleading  and  the  law  of  real  property ;  but 
the  memory  of  some  of  his  contemporaries  was  more 
richly  stored  with  cases.  From  his  remarkable  powers 
of  generalization,  his  elementary  reading  had  filled 
his  mind  with  principles,  and  he  examined  the  ques 
tions  that  arose  by  the  light  of  these  principles,  and 
then  sought  in  the  books  for  cases  to  confirm  the 
views  which  he  had  reached  by  reflection.  He  never 


201 

resorted  to  stratagems  and  surprises,  nor  did  he 
let  his  zeal  for  his  client  run  away  with  his  self- 
respect.  His  judgment  was  so  clear,  and  his  moral 
sense  so  strong,  that  he  never  could  help  discriminat 
ing  between  a  good  cause  and  a  bad  one,  nor  betray 
ing  to  a  close  observer  when  he  was  arguing  against 
his  convictions.  His  manner  was  admirable,  espe 
cially  for  its  repose — an  effective  quality  in  an  advo 
cate,  from  the  consciousness  of  strength  which  it 
implies.  The  uniform  respect  with  which  he  treated 
the  Bench  should  not  be  omitted,  in  summing  up  his 
merits  as  a  lawyer. 

The  exclusive  practice  of  the  law  is  not  held  to 
be  the  best  preparation  for  public  life.  Not  only 
does  it  invigorate  without  expanding— not  only  does 
it  narrow  at  the  same  time  that  it  sharpens — but  the 
custom  of  addressing  juries  begets  a  habit  of  over 
statement,  which  is  a  great  defect  in  a  public 
speaker,  and  the  mind  that  is  constantly  occupied  in 
looking  at  one  side  of  a  disputed  question,  is  apt  to 
forget  that  it  has  two.  Great  minds  triumph  over 
these  influences,  but  it  is  because  they  never  fail, 
sooner  or  later,  to  overleap  the  formal  barriers  of  the 
law.  Had  Mr.  Webster  been  born  in  England,  and 
educated  to  the  bar,  his  powers  could  never  have  been 
confined  to  Westminster  Hall.  He  would  have  been 
taken  up  and  borne  into  Parliament  by  an  irresistible 
tide  of  public  opinion.  Born  where  he  was,  it  would 
have  been  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes,  if  he  had 
narrowed  his  mind  and  given  up  to  his  clients  the 
genius  that  was  meant  for  the  whole  country  and  all 
time.  Admirably  as  he  put  a  case  to  a  jury,  or 


202  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

argued  it  to  the  court,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel 
that  in  many  instances  an  inferior  person  would  have 
done  it  nearly  or  quite  as  well ;  and  sometimes  the 
disproportion  between  the  man  and  his  work  was  so 
great  that  it  reminded  one  of  the  task  given  to  Michael 
Angelo,  to  make  a  statue  of  snow. 

His  advancing  reputation,  however,  soon  led  him 
into  a  class  of  cases,  the  peculiar  growth  of  the  in 
stitutions  of  his  country,  and  admirably  fitted  to 
train  a  lawyer  for  public  life,  because,  though  legal 
in  their  form,  they  involve  great  questions  of  politics 
and  government.  The  system  under  which  we  live 
is,  in  many  respects,  without  a  precedent.  Singularly 
complicated  in  its  arrangements,  embracing  a  general 
government  of  limited  and  delegated  powers,  or 
ganized  by  an  interfusion  of  separate  sovereignties, 
all  with  written  Constitutions  to  be  interpreted  and 
reconciled,  the  imperfection  of  human  language  and 
the  strength  of  human  passion,  leaving  a  wide  margin 
for  warring  opinions,  it  is  obvious  to  any  person  of 
political  experience  that  many  grave  questions,  both 
of  construction  and  conflicting  jurisdiction  must  arise, 
requiring  wisdom  and  authority  for  their  adjustment. 
Especially  must  this  be  the  case  in  a  country  like 
ours,  of  such  great  extent,  with  such  immense  mate 
rial  resources,  and  inhabited  by  so  enterprising  and 
energetic  a  people.  It  was  a  fortunate,  may  we  not 
say  a  providential  circumstance,  that  the  growth  of 
the  country  began  to  devolve  upon  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  the  consideration  of  this 
class  of  questions,  just  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Web 
ster,  in  his  ripe  manhood,  was  able  to  give  them  the 


203 

benefit  of  his  extraordinary  powers  of  argument  and 
analysis.  Previous  to  the  Dartmouth  College  case, 
in  1818,  not  many  important  constitutional  questions 
had  come  before  the  Court,  and,  since  that  time,  the 
great  lawyer,  who  then  broke  upon  them  with  so 
astonishing  a  blaze  of  learning  and  logic,  has  exerted 
a  commanding  influence  in  shaping  that  system  of  con 
stitutional  law — almost  a.  supplementary  Constitution 
— which  has  contributed  so  much  to  our  happiness 
and  prosperity.  Great  as  is  our  debt  of  gratitude  to 
such  judges  as  Marshall  and  Story,  it  is  hardly  less 
great  to  such  a  lawyer  as  Mr.  Webster.  None  would 
have  been  more  ready  than  these  eminent  magis 
trates,  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  they  had  derived 
from  his  masterly  arguments. 

In  the  discussion  of  constitutional  questions,  the 
mind  of  this  great  man  found  a  most  congenial  em 
ployment.  Here,  books,  cases,  and  precedents,  are 
of  comparatively  little  value.  We  must  ascend  to 
first  principles,  and  be  guided  by  the  light  of  pure 
reason.  Not  only  is  a  chain  of  logical  deduction  to 
be  fashioned,  but  its  links  must  first  be  forged.  Geo 
metry  itself  hardly  leads  the  mind  into  a  region  of 
more  abstract  and  essential  truth.  In  these  calm 
heights  of  speculation  and  analysis,  the  genius  of  Mr. 
Webster  moved  with  natural  and  majestic  sweep. 
Breaking  away  from  precedents  and  details,  and  soar 
ing  above  the  flight  of  eloquence,  it  saw  the  forms  of 
truth  in  the  colorless  light  and  tranquil  air  of  reason. 
When  we  dream  of  intelligence  higher  than  man,  we 
imagine  their  faculties  exercised  in  serene  inquisi 
tions  like  these, — not  spurred  by  ambition, — not  kin- 


204  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

died  by  passion, — roused  by  no  motive  but  the  love 
of  truth,  and  seeking  no  reward  but  the  possession 
of  it. 

The  respect  which  has  been  paid  to  the  decisions 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  is  one  of 
the  signs  of  hope  for  the  future,  which  are  not  to  be 
overlooked  in  our  desponding  moods.  The  visitor  in 
Washington  sees  a  few  grave  men,  in  an  unpretending 
room,  surrounded  by  none  of  the  symbols  of  com 
mand.  Some  one  of  them,  in  a  quiet  voice,  reads  an 
opinion  in  which  the  conflicting  rights  of  sovereign 
States  are  weighed  and  adjusted,  and  questions,  such 
as  have  generally  led  to  exhausting  wars,  are  settled 
by  the  light  of  reason  and  justice.  This  judgment 
goes  forth,  backed  by  no  armed  force,  but  commanded 
by  the  moral  and  intellectual  authority  of  the  tri 
bunal  which  pronounces  it.  It  falls  upon  the  waves 
of  controversy  with  reconciling,  subduing  power  j  and 
haughty  sovereignties,  as  at  the  voice  of  some  superior 
intelligence,  put  off  the  mood  of  conflict  and  defiance, 
and  yield  a  graceful  obedience  to  the  calm  decrees  of 
central  justice.  There  is  more  cause  for  national 
pride  in  the  deference  paid  to  the  decisions  of  this  au 
gust  tribunal,  than  in  all  our  material  triumphs ;  and 
so  long  as  our  people  are  thus  loyal  to  reason  and 
submissive  to  law,  it  is  a  weakness  to  despair. 

The  Dartmouth  College  case,  which  has  been  al 
ready  mentioned,  may  be  briefly  referred  to  again, 
since  it  forms  an  important  era  in  Mr.  Webster's  life. 
His  argument  in  that  case  stands  out  among  his 
other  arguments,  and  his  speech  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Hayne,  among  his  other  speeches.  No  better  argu- 


GEORGE  s.  NILLARD'S  EULOGY.  205 

merit  has  been  spoken  in  the  English  tongue,  in  the 
memory  of  any  living  man,  nor  is  the  child  that  is 
born  to-day,  likely  to  live  to  hear  a  better.  Its 
learning  i$  ample,  but  not  ostentatious ;  its  logic  irre 
sistible  ;  its  eloquence  vigorous  and  lofty.  I  have 
often  heard  my  revered  and  beloved  friend,  Judge 
Story,  speak  with  great  animation  of  the  effect  he" 
then  produced  upon  the  Court.  "  For  the  first  hour," 
said  he,  "we  listened  to  him  with  perfect  astonish 
ment  ;  for  the  second  hour,  with  perfect  delight ;  for 
the  third  hour,  with  perfect  conviction."  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  he  entered  the  Court  on  that  day  a 
comparatively  unknown  name,  and  left  it  with  no  ri 
val  but  Pinckney.  All  the  words  he  spoke  on  that 
occasion  have  not  been  recorded.  When  he  had  ex 
hausted  the  resources  of  learning  and  logic,  his  mind 
passed  naturally  and  simply  into  a  strain  of  feeling 
not  common  to  the  place.  Old  recollections  and  early 
associations  came  over  him,  and  the  vision  of  his 
youth  rose  up.  The  genius  of  the  institution  where 
he  was  nurtured,  seemed  standing  by  his  side  in 
weeds  of  mourning,  with  a  countenance  of  sorrow. 
With  suffused  eyes  and  faltering  voice,  he  broke  into 
an  unpremeditated  strain  of  emotion,  so  strong  and  so 
deep,  that  all  who  heard  him  were  borne  along  with 
it.  Heart  answered  to  heart  as  he  spoke,  and  when 
he  had  ceased,  the  silence  and  tears  of  the  impassive 
Bench,  as  well  as  the  excited  audience,  were  a  tribute 
to  the  truth  and  power  of  the  feeling  by  which  he 
had  been  inspired. 

With  his  election  to  Congress,  from  the  city  of 
Boston,  in  1822,  the  great  labors  and  triumphs  of  his 


206  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

life  begin.  From  that  time  until  his  death,  with  an 
interval  of  about  two  years  after  leaving  President 
Tyler's  Cabinet,  he  was  constantly  in  the  public  ser 
vice,  as  Representative,  Senator,  or  Secretary  of 
State.  In  this  period,  his  biography  is  included  in 
the  history  of  his  country.  Without  pausing  to 
dwell  upon  the  details,  and  looking  at  his  public  life 
as  a  whole,  let  us  examine  its  leading  features  and 
guiding  principles,  and  inquire  upon  what  grounds  he 
enjoyed  our  confidence  and  admiration,  while  living, 
and  is  entitled  to  our  gratitude  when  dead. 

Public  men,  in  popular  governments,  are  divided 
into  two  great  classes — statesmen  and  politicians. 
The  difference  between  them  is  like  the  difference  be 
tween  the  artist  and  the  mechanic.  The  statesman 
starts  with  original  principles,  and  is  propelled  by  a 
self-derived  impulse.  The  politician  has  his  course 
to  choose,  and  puts  himself  in  a  position  to  make  the 
best  use  of  the  forces  which  lie  outside  of  him.  The 
statesman's  genius  sometimes  fails  in  reaching  its 
proper  sphere,  from  the  want  of  the  politician's  faculty ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  politician's  intellectual 
poverty  is  never  fully  apprehended  till  he  has  con 
trived  to  attain  an  elevation  which  belongs  only  to 
the  statesman.  The  statesman  is  often  called  upon 
to  oppose  popular  opinion,  and  never  is  his  attitude 
nobler  than  when  so  doing  ;  but  the  sagacity  of  the 
politician  is  shown  in  seeing,  a  little  before  the  rest 
of  the  world,  how  the  stream  of  popular  feeling  is 
about  to  turn,  and  so  throwing  himself  upon  it,  as  to 
seem  to  be  guiding  it,  while  he  is  only  propelled  by  it. 


207 

A   statesman  makes  the   occasion,  but  the  occasion 
makes  the  politician. 

Mr.  Webster  was  pre-eminently  a  statesman.  He 
rested  his  claims  upon  principles ;  and  by  these  he 
was  ready  to  stand  or  fall.  In  looking  at  the  endow 
ments  which  he  brought  to  the  service  of  his  country, 
a  prominent  rank  is  to  be  assigned  to  that  deep  and 
penetrating  wisdom  which  gave  so  safe  a  direction  to 
his  genius.  His  imagination,  his  passion  and  his 
sympathies  were  all  kept  in  subordination  to  this  sov 
ereign  power  A  He  saw  things  as  they  are,  neither 
magnified  nor  discolored  by  prejudice  or  preposses 
sion.  He  heard  all  sides,  and  did  not  insist  that  a 
thing  was  true  because  he  wished  it  to  be  true,  or  be 
cause  it  seemed  probable  to  his  first  inquiry.  His 
post  of  observation  was  the  central  and  fixed  light  of 
reason,  from  which  all  wandering  and  uncertain  ele 
ments  were  at  last  discerned  in  their  just  relations 
and  proportions.  The  functions  of  government  did 
not,  in  his  view,  lie  in  the  regions  of  speculation  or 
emotion.  It  was  '•  a  contrivance  of  human  wisdom  to 
provide  for  human  wants."  The  ends  of  government 
are,  indeed,  ever  identical ;  but  the  means  used  to  at 
tain  them  are  various.  The  practical  statesman  must 
aim,  not  at  the  best  conceivable,  but  the  best  attain 
able  good.  Thus,  Mr.  Webster  always  recognized  and 
accepted  the  necessities  of  his  position.  He  did  not 
hope  against  hope,  nor  waste  his  energies  in  attempt 
ing  the  impossible.  Living  under  a  government  in 
which  universal  suffrage  is  the  ultimate  propelling 
force,  he  received  the  expressed  sense  of  the  people  as 
a  fact,  and  not  an  hypo  thesis.  Like  all  men  who  are 


208  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER, 

long  in  public  life  under  popular  institutions,  he  in 
curred  the  reproach  of  inconsistency ;  a  reproach  not 
resting  upon  any  change  of  principle — for  he  never 
changed  his  principles'—but  upon  the  modification  of 
measures  and  policy  which  every  enlightened  states 
man  yields  to  the  inevitable  march  of  events  and  in 
novations  of  time. 

Nor  was  he  less  remarkable  for  the  breadth  and 
comprehensiveness  of  his  views.  He  knew  no  North, 
no  South,  no  East,  no  West.  His  great  mind  and 
patriotic  heart  embraced  the  whole  land  with  all  its 
interests  and  all  its  claims.  He  had  nothing  of  par 
tisan  narrowness  or  sectional  exclusiveness.  His  point 
of  sight  was  high  enough  to  take  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  his  heart  was  large  enough  and  warm 
enough  to  love  it  all,  to  cling  to  it,  to  live  for  it,  or 
die  for  it.  Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  great 
ness  than  this  capacity  of  enlarged  and  generous  af 
fections.  No  public  man  ever  earned  more  fully  the 
title  of  a  national,  an  American  statesman.  No  heart 
ever  beat  with  a  higher  national  spirit  than  his.  The 
honor  of  his  country  was  as  dear  to  him  as  the  faces 
of  his  children.  Where  that  was  in  question,  his 
great  powers  blazed  forth  like  a  flame  of  fire  in  its 
defence.  Never  were  his  words  more  weighty,  his 
logic  more  irresistible,  his  eloquence  more  lofty — 
never  did  his  mind  move  with  more  majestic  and  vic 
torious  flight — than  when  vindicating  the  rights  of 
his  country,  or  shielding  her  from  unjust  aspersions. 

It  is  a  hasty  and  mistaken  judgment  to  guage  the 
merits  of  a  statesman,  under  popular  institutions,  by 
the  results  which  he  brings  about  and  the  measures 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  209 

which  he  carries  through.  His  opportunities  in  this 
respect  will  depend,  generally,  upon  the  fact  whether 
he  happens  to  be  in  the  majority  or  the  minority. 
How  much  would  be  taken  from  the  greatness  of  one 
of  the  greatest  of  statesmen,  Mr-.  Fox,  if  this  test 
were  applied  to  him.  The  merits  of  a  statesman  are 
to  be  measured  by  the  good  which  he  does,  by  the 
evil  which  he  prevents,  by  the  sentiments  which  he 
breathes  into  the  public  heart,  and  the  principles  he 
diffuses  through  the  public  mind.  Mr.  Webster  did 
not  belong  to  that  great  political  party  which,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  and  when  no  exceptional  ele 
ments  have  been  thrown  in,  have  been  able  to  com 
mand  a  majority  in  the  whole  nation,  and  upon  which 
the  responsibility  of  governing  the  country  has  been 
consequently  thrown.  Thus,  for  the  larger  part  of 
his  public  life,  he  was  in  the  minority.  But  a  mino 
rity  is  as  important  an  element,  in  carrying  on  a  re 
presentative  government,  as  a  majority  ;  and  he  never 
transcended  its  legitimate  functions.  His  opposition 
was  open,  manly,  and  conscientious  ;  never  factious, 
never  importunate.  He  stated  fairly  the  arguments 
to  which  he  replied.  He  did  not  stoop  to  personality, 
or  resort  to  the  low  and  cheap  trick  of  impugning 
the  motives  or  characters  of  his  opponents.  He  has 
earned  the  respect  which  the  Democratic  party,  to 
their  honor  be  it  spoken,  have  shown  to  his  memory. 
He  was  a  party  man,  to  this  extent — he  believed  that 
under  a  popular  government,  it  was  expedient  that 
men  of  substantially  the  same  way  of  thinking  in  po 
litics  should  act  together,  in  order  to  accomplish  any 
general  good,  but  he  never  gave  up  to  his  party  what 


210  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

was  meant  for  his  country.  When  the  turn  of  the 
tide  threw  upon  him  the  initiative  of  measures,  no 
man  ever  showed  a  wiser  spirit  of  legislation  or  a 
more  just  and  enlightened  policy  of  statesmanship. 
He  combined  what  Bacon  calls  the  logical  with  the 
mathematical  part  of  the  mind.  He  could  judge  well 
of  the  mode  of  attaining  any  end,  and  estimate,  at 
the  same  time,  the  true  value  of  the  end  itself.  His 
powers  were  by  no  means  limited  to  attack  and  de 
fence,  but  he  had  the  organizing  and  constructing 
mind,  which  shapes  and  fits  a  course  of  policy  to  the 
wants  and  temper  of  a  great  people. 

His  influence  as  a  public  man  extends  over  the 
last  forty  years,  and,  during  that  period,  what  is 
there  that  does  not  bear  his  impress?  Go  where  we 
will,  upon  land  or  sea — from  agriculture  to  commerce, 
and  from  commerce  to  manufactures  —  turn  to  do 
mestic  industry,  to  foreign  relations,  to  law,  educa 
tion  and  religion — everywhere  we  meet  the  image 
and  superscription  of  this  imperial  mind.  '  The  Ash- 
burton  treaty  may  stand  as  a  monument  of  the  good 
he  did.  His  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne  may  be 
cited  as  a  proof  of  the  evil  he  prevented ;  and,  for 
this  reason,  while  its  whole  effect  can  never  be  mea 
sured,  its  importance  can  hardly  be  overrated.  Pro 
bably  no  discourse  ever  spoken  by  man  had  a  wider, 
more  prominent,  and  more  beneficial  influence.  Not 
only  did  it  completely  overthrow  a  most  dangerous — 
attack  on  the  Constitution,  but  it  made  it  impossible 
for  it  ever  to  be  renewed.  From  that  day  forward 
the  specious  front  of  nullification  was  branded  with 
treason.  If  we  estimate  the  claims  of  a  public  man 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  211 


by  his  influence  upon  the  national  heart,  and  his  con 
tributions  to  a  high-toned  national  sentiment,  who 
shall  stand  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Webster  ?  Where  is 
the  theory  of  constitutional  liberty  better  expounded, 
and  the  rules  and  conditions  of  national  well-being 
and  well-doing  better  laid  down  than  in  his  speeches 
and  writings  ?  What  books  should  we  so  soon  put 
into  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  foreigner,  who  de 
sired  to  learn  the  great  doctrines  of  government  and 
administration  on  which  the  power  and  progress  of 
our  country  repose,  and  to  measure  thS  intellectual 
stature  of  a  finished  American  man ! 

The  relation  which  he  held  to  the  politics  of  the 
country  was  the  natural  result  of  a  mind  and  temper 
ament  like  his.  A  wise  patriot,  who  understands  the 
wants  of  his  time,  will  throw  himself  into  the  scale 
which  most  needs  the  weight  of  his  influence,  and 
choose  the  side  which  is  best  for  his  country  and  not 
for  himself.  Hence,  it  may  be  his  duty  to  espouse 
defeat,  and  cleave  to  disappointment.  In  weighing 
the  two  elements  of  law  and  liberty,  as  they  are 
mingled  in  our  country,  he  felt  that  danger  was  rather 
to  be  apprehended  from  the  preponderance  of  license 
than  of  authority — that  men  were  attracted  to  liberty 
by  the  powerful  instincts  of  the  blood  and  heart,  but 
to  law  by  the  colder  and  fainter  suggestions  of  the 
reason.  Hence  he  was  a  conservative  at  home,  and 
gave  his  influence  to  the  party  of  permanence  rather 
than  progression.  But  in  Europe  it  was  different. 
There  he  saw  that  there  were  abuses  to  be  reformed, 
and  burdens  to  be  removed  ;  that  the  principle  of 
progress  was  to  be  encouraged,  and  that  larger  iufu- 


212  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

sions  of  liberty  should  be  poured  into  the  exhausted 
frames  of  decayed  states.  '  Hence,  his  sympathies 
were  always  on  the  side  of  the  struggling  and  the 
suffering  ;  and,  through  his  powerful  voice,  the  public 
opinion  of  America  made  itself  heard  and  respected 
in  Europe.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  being  stated  in 
this  connection,  that  at  the  moment  when  a  tempest 
of  obloquy  was  beating  upon  him,  from  his  supposed 
hostility  to  the  cause  of  freedom  here,  a  very  able 
writer  of  the  Catholic  faith,  in  a  striking  and,  in 
many  respects,  admirable  essay  upon  his  writings  and 
public  life,  came  reluctantly  and  respectfully  to  the 
conclusion  that  Mr.  Webster  had  forfeited  all  claim 
to  the  support  of  Catholic  voters,  from  the  counte 
nance  he  had  given  to  the  revolutionary  spirit  of 
Europe.  Such  are  ever  the  judgments  passed  by 
fragmentary  men  upon  a  universal  man. 

His  strong  sense  of  the  value  of  the  Union,  and 
the  force  and  frequency  with  which  he  discoursed 
upon  this  theme,  are  to  be  explained  by  the  same 
traits  of  mind  and  character.  He  believed  that  we 
were  more  in  danger  of  diffusion  than  consolidation. 
He  felt  that  all  the  primal  instincts  of  patriotism — 
all  the  chords  of  the  heart — bound  men  to  their  own 
state,  and  not  to  the  common  country ;  and  that  with 
the  territorial  increase  of  that  country,  it  became 
more,  and  more  difficult  for  the  central  heart  to  pro 
pel  to  the  extremities  the  life-blood  of  invigorating 
national  sentiment,  without  which  a  state  is  but  a 
political  corporation  without  a  soul.  He  knew,  too, 
that  the  name  of  a  Union  might  exist  without  the 
substance,  and  that  a  Union  for  mutual  annoyance 


213 

and  defiance,  and  for  mutual  aid  and  support,  which 
kept  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear  and  broke  it  to 
the  hope,  was  hardly  worth  the  having.  Hence,  he 
labored  earnestly  and  perseveringly  to  inculcate  a 
love  of  the  Union,  and  to  present  the  whole  country 
as  an  object  to  be  cherished,  honored  and  valued,  be 
cause  he  felt  that  on  that  side  our  affections  needed 
to  be  quickened  and  strengthened. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  so  powerful  a  man  could 
not  pass  through  life  without  encountering  strong 
opposition.  All  his  previous  experiences,  however, 
were  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  the  storm  of 
denunciation  which  he  drew  down  upon  himself  by 
his  coarse  on  what  are  commonly  called  the  Compro 
mise  measures,  and,  especially,  his  speech  on  that 
occasion.  It  was  natural  that  men,  whose  fervid 
sympathies  are  wedded  to  a  single  idea,  should  have 
felt  aggrieved  by  the  stand  he  then  took  ;  and  if  de 
cency  and  decorum  had  governed  their  expressions, 
neither  he  nor  his  friends  could  have  had  any  right 
to  complain.  But.  in  many  cases,  the  attacks  were 
so  foul  and  ferocious  that  they  lost  all  claim  to  be 
treated  as  moral  judgments,  and  sunk  to  the  level  of 
the  lowest  and  coarsest  effusions  of  malice  and  hatred. 
It  is  a  good  rule  in  politics,  as  elsewhere,  to  give  men 
credit  for  the  motives  they  profess  to  be  actuated  by, 
and  to  accept  their  own  exposition  of  their  opinions 
as  true.  Let  us  apply  these  rules  to  his  course  at 
that  time.  He  had  opposed  the  admission  of  Texas, 
and  predicted  the  train  of  evils  which  would  come 
with  it.  He  had  warned  the  North  of  the  perilous 
questions  with  which  that  measure  was  fraught.  But 


214  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

his  prophetic  voice  was  unheeded.  Between  zeal  on 
one  side,  and  apathy  on  the  other,  Texas  came  in, 
Then  war  with  Mexico  followed,  ending  in  conquest, 
and  leaving  the  whole  of  that  unhappy  country  at  our 
mercy.  Mr.  Webster  opposed  the  dismemberment 
of  Mexico,  provided  for  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  on  the 
ground  that  no  sooner  should  we  have  the  immense 
territory,  which  we  proposed  to  take,  than  the  ques 
tion  whether  Slavery  should  exist  there,  would  agi 
tate  the  country.  But  again  the  warning  voice  of 
his  wisdom  was  unheeded,  and  the  storm,  which  he 
had  predicted,  gathered  in  the  heavens.  The  ques 
tions  against  which  he  had  forewarned  his  country 
men  now  clamored  for  settlement,  and  would  not  be 
put  by.  They  required  for  their  adjustment  the  most 
of  reason  and  the  least  of  passion,  and  they  were  met 
in  a  mood  which  combined  the  most  of  passion  and 
the  least  of  reason.  The  North  and  the  South  met 
in  "angry  parle,"  and  the  air  was  darkened  with  their 
strife.  Mr.  Webster's  prophetic  spirit  was  heavy 
within  him.  He  felt  that  a  crisis  had  arrived  in  the 
history  of  his  country,  and  that  the  lot  of  a  solemn 
duty  and  a  stern  self-sacrifice  had  fallen  upon  him. 
As  he  himself  said,  "he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
embark  alone  on  what  he  was  aware  would  prove  a 
stormy  sea,  because,  in  that  case,  should  disaster  en 
sue,  there  would  be  but  one  life  lost."  In  this  mood 
of  calm  and  high  resolve  he  went  forward  to  meet  the 
portentous  issue. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  speech  made  under 
such  circumstances,  going  over  so  wide  a  range  of 
exciting  topics,  should,  in  every  part,  command  the 


215 

immediate  and  entire  assent  even  of  those  who  would 
admit  its  truth  and  seasonableness  as  a  whole.  It  is 
also  doubtless  true,  that  there  are  single  expressions 
in  it,  which,  when  torn  from  their  context,  and  set  by 
the  side  of  passages  from  former  speeches,  dealt  with 
in  like  manner,  will  not  be  found  absolutely  identi 
cal.  But  the  speech  of  such  a  man-,  at  such  a  crisis, 
is  not  to  be  dissected  and  criticised  like  a  rhetorical 
exercise.  It  should  be  judged  as  a  whole,  and  read 
by  the  light  of  the  occasion  which  gave  it  birth. 

The  judgments  which  Mr.  Webster's  course  has 
called  forth  were  widely  divided.  By  those  who  hold 
extreme  views,  he  was  charged  with  expressing  senti 
ments  which  he  did  not  believe  to  be  true.  It  was  a 
bid  for  the  Presidency,  and  his  conscience  was  the 
price  he  offered.  It  is  a  mere  waste  of  words  to  argue 
with  men  of  this  class.  Fanaticism  darkens  the  mind, 
and  hardens  the  heart,  and  where  there  is  neither 
common  sense  nor  common  charity,  the  first  step  in  a 
process  of  reasoning  cannot  be  taken.  Others  main 
tained  that  he  was  mistaken  in  point  of  fact,  that  he 
took  counsel  of  his  fears  and  not  of  his  wisdom,  and 
that,  through  him,  the  opportunity  was  lost  of  putting 
down  the  Soufh  in  an  open  struggle  for  influence  and 
power.  But,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  not  probable  that 
a  man,  who,  upon  subordinate  questions,  had  shown 
so  much  political  wisdom  and  forecast,  should  have 
been  mistaken  upon  a  point  of  such  transcendent  im 
portance,  to  which  his  attention  had  been  so  long 
and  so  earnestly  directed  ;  and,  in  the  second  place, 
the  testimony  of  all  men  whose  evidence  would  be  re 
ceived  with  respect  upon  any  similar  subject,  fully 


216  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

sustains  Mr.  Webster  in  the  views  he  then  took  of 
the  state  of  the  country,  and  is  equally  strong  as  to 
the  value  of  the  services  he  rendered.  In  such  an 
issue,  the  testimony  of  retired  persons,  living  among 
"books  and  their  own  thoughts,  is  not  entitled  to  any 
great  value,  because  they  can  have  no  adequate  no 
tion  of  the  duties,  responsibilities  or  difficulties  of 
governing  a  great  state,  and  what  need  there  is  of 
patience  and  renunciation  in  those  who  are  called  to 
this  highest  of  human  functions.  A  statesman  has  the 
right  to  be  tried  by  his  peers. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  how  hatred,  whether  per 
sonal  or  political,  when  it  enters  into  the  mind,  dis 
turbs  its  functions,  as  a  piece  of  iron  in  the  binnacle 
of  a  ship  misleads  the  compass.  Many  who  have 
found  it  so  hard  to  forgive  Mr.  Webster  for  his  inde 
pendence  in  opposing  them,  would  admit  the  import 
ance  of  having  a  class  of  public  men  who  will  lead 
the  people  and  not  be  led  by  them,  and  that  a  great 
man  is  never  so  great  as  when  withstanding  their 
dangerous  wishes,  and  calmly  braving  their  anger. 
Their  eyes  will  sparkle  when  they  speak  of  the  neutral 
countenance  of  Washington,  undismayed  by  Jacobin 
clamor,  and  of  the  sublime  self-devotion  of  Jay.  It 
is  strange  that  they  cannot,  or  will  not,  for  a  moment 
look  at  Mr.  Webster's  position  from  a  point  of  view 
opposite  to  their  own,  admit  that  he  may  have  been 
in  the  right,  and  see  him  clad  in  the  beauty  of  self- 
sacrifice.  It  is  to  be  feared  that,  this  form  of  virtue 
is  growing  more  and  more  rare,  as  it  is  more  and 
more  needed.  The  story  of  Curtius  leaping  into  a 
gulf  in  the  Roman  forum  is  but  the  legendary  form 


GEORGE  s.  HILLAKD'S  EULOGY.  217 

in  which  a  perpetual  truth  is  clothed.  In  the  path 
of  time  there  are  always  chasms  of  error,  which  only 
a  great  self-immolating  victim  can  close.  The  glory 
has  departed  from  the  land  in  which  that  self-devoting 
stock  has  died  out. 

•»  Mr.  Webster  was  an  ambitious  man.  He  desired 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  But  on 
this  subject,  as  on  all  others,  there  was  no  conceal 
ment  in  his  nature.  And  ambition  is  not  a  weakness, 
unless  it  be  disproportioned  to  the  capacity.  To  have 
more  ambition  than  ability,  is  to  be  at  once  weak  and 
unhappy.  With  him  it  was  a  noble  passion,  because 
it  rested  upon  noble  powers.  He  was  a  man  cast  in 
a  heroic  mould.  His  thoughts,  his  wishes,  his  pas 
sions,  his  aspirations,  were  all  on  a  grander  scale  than 
those  of  other  men.  Unexercised  capacity  is  always 
a  source  of  rusting  discontent.  The  height  to  which 
men  may  rise  is  in  proportion  to  the  upward  force  of 
their  genius,  and  they  will  never  be  calm  till  they  have 
attained  their  predestined  elevation.  Lord  Bacon 
says,  "as  in. nature  things  move  violently  to  their 
place,  and  calmly  in  their  place,  so  virtue  in  ambition, 
is  violent;  in  authority,  settled  and  calm."  Mr. 
Webster  had  a  giant's  brain  and  a  giant's  heart,  and 
he  wanted  a  giant's  work.  He  found  repose  in  those 
strong  conflicts  and  great  duties,  which  crush  the 
weak  and  madden  the  sensitive.  He  thought  that, 
if  he  were  elevated  to  the  highest  place,  he  should 
so  administer  the  government  as  to  make  the  country 
honored  abroad,  and  great  and  happy  at  home.  He 
thought,  too,  that  he  could  do  something  to  make  us 
more  truly  one  people.  This,  above  every  thing  else, 

YOL.  II.  10 


218  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

was  his  ambition.  And  we,  who  knew  him  better 
than  others,  felt  that  it  was  a  prophetic  ambition,  and 
we  honored  and  trvsted  him  accordingly. 

As  a  writer  and  as  a  public  speaker,  upon  the 
great  interests  of  his  country,  Mr.  Webster  stands 
before  us  and  will  stand  before  those  who  come  after 
us,  as  the  leading  spirit  of  his  time.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  his  discussions  may  have  been  too  grave  to  be 
entirely  effective,  at  the  moment  of  their  delivery, 
but  all  of  them  are  quarries  of  political  wisdom ;  for 
while  others  have  solved  only  the  particular  problem 
before  them,  he  has  given  the  rule  that  reaches  all  of 
the  same  class.  As  a  general  remark,  his  speeches 
are  a  striking  combination  of  immediate  effectiveness 
and  enduring  worth.  He  never,  indeed,  goes  out  of 
his  way  for  philosophical  observations,  nor  lingers 
long  in  the  tempting  regions  of  speculation,  but  his 
mind,  while  he  advances  straight  to  his  main  object, 
drops  from  its  abundant  stores  those  words  of  wisdom 
which  will  keep,  through  all  time,  a  vital  and  germi 
nating  power.  His  logic  is  vigorous  and  compact, 
but  there  is  no  difficulty  in  following  his  argument, 
because  his  reasoning  is  as  clear  as  it  is  strong.  The 
leading  impression  he  leaves  upon  the  mind,  is  that 
of  irresistible  weight.  "We  are  conscious  of  a  pro 
pelling  power,  before  .which  everything  gives  way  or 
goes  down.  The  hand  of  a  giant  is  upon  us,  and  we 
feel  that  it  is  in  vain  to  struggle.  The  eloquence  of 
Burke,  with  whom  he  is  always  most  fitly  compared, 
is  like  a  broad  river,  winding  through  a  cultivated 
landscape  ;  that  of  Mr.  "Webster  is  like  a  clear  moun 
tain  stream,  compressed  between  walls  of  rock. 


GEORGE  s.  IIILLARD'S  EULOGY.  219 

But  his  claims  as  a  writer  do  not- rest  exclusively 
upon  his  political  speeches,  *His  occasional  discour 
ses,  and  his  diplomatic  writings,  would  alone  make  a 
great  reputation.  His  occasional  discourses  rise 
above  the  rest  of  their  class,  as  the  Bunker  Hill  Mon 
ument  soars  above  the  objects  around  it.  His 
Plymouth  Oration,  especially,  is  a  production  which 
all,  who  have  followed  in  the  same  path,  must  ever 
look  upon  with  admiration  and  despair.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era  in  that  department  of  litera 
ture.  It  was  the  first  and  greatest  of  its  class ;  and 
has  naturally  fixed  a  standard  of  excellence  which 
has  been  felt  in  the  efforts  of  all  who  have  come 
after  him.  Its  merits  of  style  and  treatment  are  or 
the  highest  order,  and  it  is  marked  throughout  by 
great  dignity  of  sentiment  and  an  elevating  and  stir 
ring  tone  of  moral  feeling,  which  lifts  the  mind  into 
regions  higher  than  can  be  reached  by  eloquence,  or 
power  of  expression  alone. 

His  diplomatic  writings  claim  unqualified  praise. 
Such  discussions  require  a  cautious  as  well  as  firm 
hand,  for  a  single  rash  expression,  falling  upon  an 
explosive  state  of  mind,  may  shatter  to  pieces  the 
most  hopeful  negotiation.  Mr.  Webster  combines 
great  force  of  statement  with  perfect  decorum  of  man 
ner.  It  is  the  iron  hand  but  the  silken  glove.  He 
neither  claims  nor  yields  a  single  inch  beyond  the 
right.  His  attitude  is  neither  aggressive  nor  dis 
trustful.  He  is  strong  in  himself  and  strong  in  his 
position.  His  style  is  noble,  dignified  and  transpa 
rent.  It  is  the  "  large  utterance  "  of  a  great  people. 
1  know  of  no  modern  compositions  which,  in  form  and 


220  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

substance,  embody  so  much  of  what  we  understand  by 
the  epithet,  Roman.  Such,  indeed,  we  may  imagine 
the  State  papers  of  the  Roman  Senate  to  have  been, 
in  the  best  days  of  the  Republic. 

His  arguments,  speeches,  occasional  discourses, 
and  diplomatic  writings,  have  all  a  marked  family 
likeness.  They  are  all  characterized  by  strength  and 
simplicity.  He  never  goes  out  of  his  way  to  make  a 
point  or  drag  in  an  illustration.  His  ornaments, 
sparingly  introduced,  are  of  that  pure  gold,  which 
defies  the  sharpest  test  of  criticism.  He  had  more 
of  imagination,  properly  so  called,  than  fancy,  and  his 
images  are  more  grand  than  picturesque.  He  writes 
like  a  man  who  is  thinking  of  his  subject,  and  not 
of  his  style,  and  thus  wastes  no  time  upon  the  mere 
garb  of  his  thoughts.  His  mind  was  so  full,  that 
epithet  and  illustration  grew  with  his  words,  like 
flowers  on  the  stalk.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  a  man 
who  has  had  so  great  an  influence  over  the  mind  of 
America,  should  have  been  so  free  from  our  national 
defects ;  our  love  of  exaggeration,  and  our  excessive 
use  of  figurative  language.  His  style  is  Doric,  not 
Corinthian.  His  sentences  are  like  shafts  hewn  from 
the  granite  of  his  own  hills — simple,  massive,  and 
strong.  We  may  apply  to  him  what  Quintilian  says 
of  Cicero,  that  a  relish  for  his  writings  is  itself  a  mark 
of  good  taste.  He  is  always  plain ;  sometimes  even 
homely  and  unfinished.  But  a  great  writer  may  be, 
and  indeed  must  be,  homely  and  unfinished  at  times. 
Dealing  with  great  subjects,  he  must  vary  his  manner. 
Some  things  he  will  put  in  the  foreground,  and  some 
in  the  background ;  some  in  light,  and  some  in 


GEORGE  s.  IIILLARD'S  EULOGY. 221 

shadow.  He  will  not  hesitate,  therefore,  to  say  plain 
things  in  a  plain  way.  When  the  glow  and  impulse 
of  his  genius  are  upon  him,  he  will  not  stop  to  adjust 
every  fold  in  his  mantle.  His  writings  will  leave 
upon  the  mind  an  effect,  like  that  of  the  natural 
landscape  upon  the  eye,  where  nothing  is  trim  and 
formal,  but  where  all  the  sweeps  and  swells,  though 
rarely  conforming  to  an  ideal  line  of  beauty,  blend 
together  in  a  general  impression  of  grace,  fertility, 
and  power. 

His  knowledge  of  law,  politics  and  government 
was  profound,  various  and  exact ;  but  a  man  of  learn 
ing,  in  the  sense  in  which  this  word  is  commonly  used, 
he  could  not  be  called.  His  life  had  been  too  busy 
to  leave  much  time  for  scientific  or  literary  research  ; 
nor  had  he  that  passionate  love  of  books  which  made 
him  content  to  pass  all  his  leisure  hours  in  his  library. 
He  had  read  much,  but  not  many  books.  He  was  a 
better  Latin  scholar  than  the  average  of  our  educated 
men,  and  he  read  the  Roman  authors,  to  the  last, 
with  discriminating  relish.  A  mind  like  his  was 
naturally  drawn  to  the  grand  and  stately  march  of 
Roman  genius.  With  the  best  English  writers  he 
was  entirely  familiar,  and  he  took  great  pleasure  in 
reading  them,  and  discussing  their  merits. 

To  science,  as  recorded  in  books,  he  had  given 
little  time,  but  he  had  the  faculties  and  organization 
which  would  easily  have  made  him  a  man  of  science. 
He  had  the  senses  of  an  Indian  hunter.  Of  the 
knowledge  that  is  gathered  by  observation — as  of  the 
names  and  properties  of  plants,  the  song  and  plumage 
of  birds,  and  the  forms  and  growth  of  trees — he  had 


222  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

much  more  than  most  men  of  his  class.  His  eye  was 
accurate  as  his  mind  was  discriminating.  Never  was 
his  conversation  more  interesting  than  when  speaking 
of  natural  objects  and  natural  phenomena.  His 
words  had  the  freshness  of  morning,  and  seemed  to 
bring  with  them  the  breezes  of  the  hills  and  the  fra 
grance  of  Spring. 

Mr.  "Webster,  both  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker,  was 
unequal,  and  from  the  nature  of  his  mind  and  temper 
ament,  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  He  was  not  of  an 
excitable  organization,  and  felt  no  nervous  anxiety 
lest  he  should  fall  below  the  standard  of  expectation 
raised  by  previous  efforts.  Hence,  he  was  swayed  by 
the  mood,  mental  or  physical,  in  which  each  occasion 
found  him.  Ife  required  a  great  subject,  or  a  great 
antagonist,  to  call  forth  all  his  slumbering  power. 
At  times,  he  looked  and  spoke  almost  like  a  super 
human  creature  :  at  others,  he  seemed  but  the  faint 
reflex  of  himself.  His  words  fell  slowly  and  heavily 
from  his  lips,  as  if  each  cost  him  a  distinct  effort. 
The  influence,  therefore,  which  he  had  over  popular 
assemblies,  was  partly  owing  to  his  great  weight  of 
character. 

He  had  strong  out-of-door  tastes,  and  they  con 
tributed  to  the  health  of  his  body  and  mind.  He 
was  a  keen  sportsman,  and  a  lover  of  the  mountains 
and  the  sea.  His  heart  warmed  to  a  fine  tree,  as  to 
the  face  of  a  friend.  He  had  that  fondness  for  agri 
culture  and  rural  pursuits  so  common  among  states 
men.  Herein  the  grand  scale  of  the  whole  man  gave 
direction  and  character  to  his  tastes.  He  did  not 
care  for  minute  finish  and  completeness  on  a  limited 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  223 

scale.  He  had  no  love  for  trim-gardens  and  formal 
pleasure-grounds.  His  wishes  clasped  the  whole 
landscape.  He  liked  to  see  the  broad  fields  of  clover, 
with  the  morning  dew  upon  them,  yellow  waves  of 
grain,  heaving  and  rolling  in  the  sun,  and  great  cattle 
lying  down  in  the  shade  of  great  trees.  He  liked  to 
hear  the  whetting  of  the  mower's  scythe,  the  loud  beat 
of  the  thresher's  flail,  and  the  heavy  groan  of  loaded 
wagons.  The  smell  of  the  new-mown  hay,  and  of 
the  freshly-turned  furrows  in  Spring,  was  cordial  to 
his  spirit.  He  took  pleasure  in  all  forms  of  animal 
life,  and  his  heart  was  glad  when  his  cattle  lifted  up 
their  large-eyed,  contemplative  faces,  and  recognized 
their  lord  by  a  look. 

His  meutal  powers  were  commended  by  a  remark 
able   personal   appearance.      He   was  probably   the 
grandest  -looking  man  of  his  time.    Wherever  he  went, 
men  tuvned  to  gaze  at  him — and  he  could  not  enter 
a  room  without  having  every  eye  fastened  upon  him. 
His  face  was  very  striking,  both  in  form  and  color. 
His  brow  was  to  common  brows,  what  the  great  dome 
of  St.  Peters  is  to  the  small  cupolas  at  its  side.     The 
eyebrow,  the  eye,  and  the  dark  and  deep  socket  in 
which  it  glowed,  were  full  of  power ;  but  the  great 
expression  of  his  face  lay  in  the  mouth.     This  was  the 
most  speaking  and  flexible   of  features,  moulded  by 
every  mood  of  feeling,  from  iron  severity  to  the  most 
captivating  sweetness.    His  countenance  changed  from 
sternness  to  softness  with   magical  rapidity.       His 
smile  was  beaming,  warming,  fascinating,  lighting  up 
his  whole  face  like  a  sudden  sunrise.     His  voice  was 
rich,  deep,  and  strong ;  filling  the  largest  space  with- 


224  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

out  effort,  capable  of  most  startling  and  impressive 
tones,  and  when  under  excitement,  rising  and  swell 
ing  into  a  volume  of  sound,  like  the  roar  of  a  tempest. 
His  action  was  simple  and  dignified— and  in  his  ani 
mated  moods  highly  expressive.  Those  of  us  who 
recall  his  presence  as  he  stood  up  here  to  speak,  in  the 
pride  and  strength  of  his  manhood,  have  formed  from 
his  words,  looks,  tones,  and  actions,  an  ideal  standard 
of  physical  and  intellectual  power,  which  we  never 
expect  to  see  approached,  but  by  which  we  uncon 
sciously  try  the  greatness  of  which  we  read,  as  well 
as  that  which  we  meet. 

He  was  a  man  more  known  and  admired  than  un 
derstood.  His  great  qualities  were  conspicuous  from 
afar — but  that  part  of  his  nature,  which  he  shared 
with  other  men,  was  apprehended  by  comparatively 
few.  His  manners  did  not  always  do  him  justice. 
For  many  years  of  his  life,  great  burdens  rested 
upon  him,  and  at  times  his  cares  and  thoughts  settled 
down  darkly  upon  his  spirit,  and  he  was  then  a  man 
of  an  awful  presence.  He  required  to  be  loved,  be 
fore  he  could  be  known.  He,  indeed,  grappled  his 
friends  to  him  with  hooks  of  steel,  but  he  did  not  al 
ways  conciliate  those  who  were  not  his  friends.  He 
had  a  lofty  spirit,  which  could  not  stoop  or  dissemble. 
He  could  neither  affect  what  he  did  not  feel,  nor  de 
sire  to  conceal  what  he  did.  His  wishes  clung  with 
tenacious  hold  to  everything  they  grasped — and  from 
those  who  stood,  or  seemed  to  stand  in  his  way,  his 
countenance  was  averted.  Some,  who  were  not  un 
willing  to  become  his  friends,  were  changed  by  his 
manners  into  foes.  He  was  social  in  his  nature,  but 


GEORGE  s.  HILLAKD'S  EULOGY.  225 

not  facile.  He  was  seen  to  the  best  advantage  among 
a  few  old  and  tried  friends,  especially  in  bis  old 
home.  Then  bis  spirits  rose,  bis  countenance  ex 
panded,  and  be  looked  and  moved  like  a  schoolboy 
on  a  holiday.  Conscious  that  no  unfriendly  ear  was 
listening  to  him,  his  conversation  became  easy,  play 
ful,  and  natural.  His  memory  was  richly  stored  with 
characteristic  anecdotes,  and  with  amusing  reminis 
cences  of  his  own  early  life  and  of  the  men  who  were 
conspicuous  when  he  was  young,  all  of  which  he  nar 
rated  with  an  admirable  mixture  of  dignity  and 
grace.  Those  who  saw  him  in  these  hours  of  social 
ease,  with  his  armor  off,  and  the  current  of  his 
thoughts  turning,  gently  and  gracefully,  to  chance 
topics  and  familiar  themes,  could  hardly  believe  that 
be  was  the  same  man  who  was  so  reserved  and  austere 
in  public. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  had  this  great  man  no 
faults  1  Surely  he  bad.  No  man  liveth,  and  sinneth 
not.  There  were  veins  of  human  imperfection  run 
ning  through  his  large  heart  and  large  brain.  But 
neither  men.  nor  the  works  of  men,  should  be  judged 
by  their  defects.  Like  all  eminent  persons,  he  fell 
upon  evil  tongues ;  but  those  who  best  knew  his 
private  life,  most  honored,  venerated  and  loved  him. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  feeling.  For 
theological  speculations  he  had  little  taste,  but  he  had 
reflected  deeply  on  the  relations  between  God  and  the 
human  soul,  and  his  heart  was  penetrated  with  a  de 
votional  spirit.  He  had  been,  from  his  youth  up 
wards,  a  diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures,  and  few 
men,  whether  clergymen  or  laymen,  were  more  faini- 
VOL.  n.  10* 


226  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

liar  with  their  teachings  and  their  language.  He  had 
a  great  reverence  for  the  very  words  of  the  Bible, 
and  never  used  them  in  any  light  or  trivial  connec 
tion.  He  never  avoided  the  subjects  of  life,  death, 
and  immortality,  and  when  he  spoke  of  them,  it  was 
with  unusual  depth  of  feeling  and  impressiveness  of 
manner.  Within  the  last  few  months  of  his  life,  his 
thoughts  and  speech  were  often  turned  upon  such 
themes.  He  felt  that  he  was  an  old  man,  and  that  it 
became  him  to  set  his  house  in  order,  On  the  eight 
eenth  day  of  January  last,  he  had  completed  the 
threescore  and  ten  years  which  are  man's  alloted 
portion,  and  yet  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural 
force  much  abated.  But  he  grew  weaker  with  the 
approach  of  summer,  and  his  looks  and  voice,  when 
he  last  addressed  us  from  this  place,  a  few  months 
ago,  fo'rced  upon  us  the  mournful  reflection  that  this 
great  light  must  soon  sink  below  the  horizon.  But 
yet,  when  the  news  came  that  the  hand  of  death  was 
upon  him,  it  startled  us  like  a  sudden  blow,  for  he 
was  become  so  important  to  us,  that  we  could  not  look 
steadily  at  the  thought  of  losing  him.  You  remember 
what  a  sorrow  it  was  that  settled  down  upon  our  city. 
The  common  business  of  life  dragged  heavily  with  us 
in  those  days.  There  was  but  one  expression  on  the 
faces  of  men,  and  but  one  question  on  their  lips.  We 
listened  to  the  tidings  which  came  up,  hour  after 
hour,  from  his  distant  chamber,  as  men  upon  the 
shore,  in  a  night  of  storm,  listen  to  the  minute  guns  of 
a  sinking  ship,  freighted  with  the  treasures  of  their 
hearts.  The  grief  of  the  people  was  eager  for  the 
minutest  details  of  his  closing  hours,  and  he  died  with 


227 

his  country  around  his  bed.  Of  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  that  death  I  need  not  speak  to  you,  for  it 
is  fixed  in  your  memories,  and  deep  in  your  hearts. 
It  fell  upon  the  whole  land  like  a  voice  from  heaven. 
He  died  calmly,  simply  and  bravely.  He  was  neither 
weary  of  life,  nor  afraid  of  death.  He  died  like  a 
husband,  a  father,  a  friend,  a  Christian,  and  a  man  ; 
with  thoughtful  tenderness  for  all  around  him,  and  a 
trembling  faith  in  the  mercy  of  God.  He  was  not 
tried  by  long  and  hopeless  suffering ;  nor  were  his 
friends  saddened  by  seeing  the  lights  put  out  before 
the  curtain  fell.  His  mind,  like  a  setting  sun,  seemed 
larger  at  the  closing  hour.  Such  a  death  narrows  the 
dark  valley  to  a  span.  Such  is  a  midsummer's  day 
at  the  poles,  where  sunset  melts  into  sunrise,  and  the 
last  ray  of  evening  is  caught  up,  and  appears  once 
more  as  the  first  beam  of  the  new  morning. 

I  should  not  feel  that  my  duty  had  been  wholly 
discharged,  did  I  not  speak  of  the  touching  simplicity 
and  solemnity  of  his  funeral.  In  his  will,  made  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  he  says :  "  I  wish  to  be  buried 
without  the  least  show  or  ostentation,  but  in  a  manner 
respectful  to  my  neighbors,  whose  kindness  has  con 
tributed  so  much  to  the  happiness  of  me  and  mine, 
and  for  whose  prosperity  I  offer  sincere  prayers  to 
God."  His  wishes  were  faithfully  observed,  and,  in 
the  arrangements  for  his  funeral,  there  was  no  recog 
nition  of  worldly  distinction  or  official  rank.  He  was 
buried  simply  as  the  head  of  a  household,  after  the 
manner  of  New  England.  But  the  immense  crowds 
which  were  there,  drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  land 
by  their  own  veneration  and  love,  formed  an  element 


228  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  impressiveness  f;ir  above  all  civil  pageantry  or  mil 
itary  honors.  Who,  that  was  there  present,  will  ever  for 
get  the  scene  on  which  fell  the  rich  light  of  that  soft 
atumnal  day?  There  was  the  landscape  so  stamped 
with  his  image  and  identified  with  his  presence.  There 
were  the  trees  lie  had  planted,  the  fields  over  which 
he  had  delighted  to  walk,  and  the  ocean  whose  waves 
were  music  to  his  ear.  There  was  the  house,  with  its 
hospitable  door  :  but  the  stately  form  of  its  master 
did  not  stand  there,  with  outstretched  hand  and  smile 
of  welcome.  That  smile  had  vanished  for  ever  from 
the  earth,  and  the  hand  and  form  were  silent,  cold 
and  motionless.  The  dignity  of  life  had  given  place 
to  the  dignity  of  death.  No  narrow  chamber  held 
that  illustrious  dust ;  no  coffin  concealed  that  majestic 
frame.  In  the  open  air,  clad  as  when  alive,  he  lay 
extended  in  seeming  sleep  ;  with  no  touch  of  disfea 
ture  upon  his  brow  ;  as  noble  an  image  of  reposing 
strength  as  ever  was  seen  upon  earth.  Around  him 
was  the  landscape  that  he  had  loved,  and  above  him 
was  nothing  but  the  dome  of  the  covering  heavens. 
The  sunshine  fell  upon  the  dead  man's  face,  and  the 
breeze  blew  over  it.  A  lover  of  nature,  he  seemed  to 
be  gathered  into  her  maternal  arms,  and  to  lie  like  a 
child  upon  a  mother's  lap.  We  felt,  as  we  looked 
upon  him,  that  death  had  never  stricken  down,  at  one 
blow,  a  greater  sum  of  life.  And  whose  heart  did  not 
swell,  when  from  the  honored  and  distinguished  men 
there  gathered  together,  six  plain  Marshfield  farmers 
were  called  forth,  to  carry  the  head  of  their  neighbor 
to  the  grave.  Slowly  and  sajdly  the  vast  multitude 
followed,  in  mourning  silence,  and  he  was  laid  down 


GEORGE  s.  HILLARD'S  EULOGY.  229 

to  rest  among  dear  and  kindred  dust.  There,  among 
the  scenes  that  he  loved  in  life,  he  sleeps  well.  He 
has  left  his  name  and  memory  to  dwell  for  ever  upon 
those  hills  and  valleys,  to  breathe  a  more  spiritual  tone 
into  the  winds  that  "blow  over  his  grave,  to  touch  with 
finer  light  the  line  of  the  breaking  wave,  to  throw  a 
more  solemn  beauty  upon  the  hues  of  Autumn  and 
the  shadows  of  twilight. 

But  though  his  mortal  form  is  there,  his  spirit 
is  here.  His  words  are  written  in  living  light  along 
these  walls.  May  that  spirit  rest  upon  us  and  our 
children.  May  those  words  live  in  our  hearts  and 
the  hearts  of  those  who  come  after  us.  May  we 
honor  his  memory,  and  show  our  gratitude  for  his  life 
by  taking  heed  to  his  counsels  and  walking  in  the 
way  on  which  the  light  of  his  wisdom  shines. 


PERSONAL  ANECDOTES, 

LETTERS,  REMINISCENCES,  TRIBUTES,  ETC., 

FROM    VARIOUS     SOURCES. 


FRANKLIN   MBRCE's    SPEECH   ON    THE   DEATH   OF   WEBSTER,    AT   CON 
CORD,    N.    II. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN:— How  deeply  have  all  hearts 
been  impressed  by  the  fervent  appeal  to  that  Power 
in  which  our  fathers  put  their  trust,  in  the  hour  of 
their  weakness  and  trials  !  And  how  has  that  solemn 
impression  been  enhanced  by  the  last  words  of  the 
truly  great  man,  just  read  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bouton! 

But  a  few  weeks  have  passed  since  a  deep  gloom 
was  cast  over  our  country  by  the  death  of  the  great 
statesman  of  the  West.  It  had  long  been  understood 
that  his  light  was  flickering  in  its  socket,  and  must 
soon  go  out.  Still,  the  announcement,  when  it  came, 
was  laden  with  sadness ;  and  we  have  all,  since  then, 
been  disposed  to  look  with  warmer  affection  and  more 
glowing  gratitude  to  his  great  compeer  and  associate, 
the  intelligence  of  whose  sudden  decease  will  fall  like 
a  funeral  pall  upon  the  public  throughout  that  Union 
to  which  he  gave  his  best  affections  and  noblest 
efforts. 


232  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER.. 


I  had  met  Mr.  Webster  repeatedly  prior  to  1833, 
but  my  personal  acquaintance  with  him  may  be  said 
to  have  commenced  with  my  first  winter  at  Washing 
ton.  His  attachment  to  our  State  was  singularly 
strong,  and  this  circumstance,  perhaps,  led  to  a  series 
of  kind  acts  and  courtesies  toward  me,  during  the 
session  of  1833-4,  and  afterward,  the  grateful  recol 
lection  of  which  will  never  be  effaced.  I  mourn  for 
him  as  for  a  friend,  for  whose  personal  regard  my 
own  heart  has  given  back  a  true  and  full  response. 

Among  eminent  citizens,  of  commanding  power 
and  influence,  while  I  was  in  the  Senate,  he  stood, 
perhaps,  pre-eminent.  In  his  rich  combination  of 
qualities  as  an  orator,  lawyer  and  statesman,  it  may  be 
safely  said,  he  had  no  rival.  How  forcibly  and  sadly 
are  we  reminded  of  the  great  men  with  whom  he  was 
associated  in  the  Senate  chamber,  and  who  preceded 
him  in  his  transit  through  the  "  dark  valley !" 
White,  Grundy,  Forsyth,  Southard,  Wall,  Linn,  Se- 
vier,  Silas  Wright,  Hill,  Woodbury,  Calhoun,  Clay — 
men  who  left  their  impress  upon  the  age — names  in- 
dissolubly  connected  with  the  fame  and  history  of 
their  country  ;  all,  like  him  whose  death  we  are  now 
called  upon  to  deplore,  were  links  in  the  chain  which 
bound  the  past  generation  to  the  present,  and  all,  like 
him,  are  now  on  the  other  side  of  that  narrow  line 
which  divides  time  from  eternity.  Upon  whom  have 
their  mantles  fallen  ?  Who  are  to  take  their  places 
in  the  perils  through  which  our  country  may  be  called 
to  pass?  Who,  with  patriotic  courage  and  states 
man-like  forecast,  are  to  guide  in  the  storms  that 
will,  at  times,  inevitably  threaten  us,  in  our  unexam- 


FRANKLIN    PIERCE's    SPEECH.  233 

pled  development  of  resources  as  a  nation,  our  almost 
fearful  progress,  our  position  of  amazing  responsibil 
ity,  as  the  great,  confederated,  self-governing  power 
of  the  globe  ?  These  are  questions  which  will  press 
themselves  upon  all  minds ;  but  who,  alas,  can  satis 
factorily  answer  them  ? 

To  speak  of  Mr.  Webster's  genius,  his  varied  and 
solid  attainments,  his  services,  would  be  to  discourse 
of  matters  as  familiar,  even  to  the  children  of  his 
native  state,  as  household  words.  Besides,  this  must 
be  left  to  vigorous  pens  and  eloquent  tongues,  after 
the  first  gush  of  grief,  and  the  oppressive  sense  of 
loss,  shall,  to  some  extent,  have  passed  away.  It  is, 
and  long  has  been,  my  firm  conviction  that  Mr.  Web 
ster  had  a  hold  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his 
countrymen,  which  will  fail  to  be  justly  estimated, 
only  because  there  has  been  no  full  opportunity  to 
measure  it.  You,  Mr.  Chairman,  have  truly  said 
that  Mr.  Webster's  greatness  was  of  that  rare  cha 
racter  which  no  earthly  position  could  exalt.  He 
came  to  official  stations,  as  he  approached  all  subjects 
presented  to  his  mind,  their  superior  and  their  mas 
ter.  He  has  reared  for  himself  a  vast  pillar  of  re 
nown,  which  will  stand,  in  undiminished  strength  and 
grandeur,  when  the  work  of  men's  hands,  erected  to 
his  honor,  will  be  like  Nineveh ;  and,  I  fear,  when 
this  Union  may  have  shared  the  fate  which  was  the 
dread  of  his  later  years.  A  few  years  ago,  when  the 
distinguished  brother  of  the  deceased  was  called  in 
an  instant  from  time  to  eternity,  in  the  court-room  in 
this  place,  with  the  last  word  of  a  perfect  sentence 
lingering  on  his  lips,  another  citizen,  most  eminent 


234-  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  beloved,  (the  late  lamented  George  Sullivan), 
exclaimed,  "  What  shadows  we  are,  what  shadows  we 
pursue  !"  How  these  emphatic  words  come  back  to 
us  here,  as  if  by  an  echo  !  How  mere  earthly  honors 
and  distinctions  fade  amid  a  gloom  like  this  ;  how 
political  asperities  are  chastened ;  what  a  lesson  to 
the  living  ;  what  an  admonition  to  personal  malevo 
lence,  now  awed  and  subdued,  as  the  great  heart  of 
the  nation  throbs  heavily  at  the  portals  of  his  grave ! 
I  have  no  heart  to  speak,  or  to  contemplate  the 
extent  of  the  loss  we  have  sustained.  As  a  personal 
friend,  as  a  son  of  New  Hampshire,  as  an  American 
citizen,  I  shall  be,  with  thousands,  a  sincere  mourner 
at  his  obsequies. 


THE   REV.  DR.  HAWKs's    INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  RESOLUTIONS   ON   THE 
DEATH  OF  WEBSTER,  BEFORE   THE  NEW- YORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

MR.  PRESIDENT:  A  sad  duty  has  been  confided 
to  me,  and  I,  in  common  with  my  countrymen,  mourn 
over  the  occasion  which  calls  for  its  performance. 
When  I  recall  the  saddened  expression  which,  for  the 
last  week,  I  have  seen  on  the  countenance  of  my  fel 
low-citizens  ;  when  I  observe  the  deep  stillness  which 
pervades  this  hall,  I  feel  that  words  are  scarce  neces 
sary  to  render,  the  tribute  that  we  fain  would  yield 
to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  man  to  whom  you 
have  alluded.  Our  hearts  are  already  rendering  that 
tribute  by  expressive  silence. 

And  yet,  when  such  a  man  as  Daniel  Webster 
dies,  we  owe  it  alike  to  him  and  to  ourselves  to  speak; 


.  HAWKS'S    REMARKS.  235 


it  is  meet  that  American  hearts  should  render,  in  the 
face  of  the  world,  their  outspoken  attestation  to  the 
worth  of  one  to  whom,  if  to  any  man,  justly  belonged 
tjie  epithet  "  The  Great  American." 

I  am  unmeet  to  speak  this  eulogy  ;  I  came  not 
here  for  that  purpose.  Let  that  task  be  committed 
to  a  more  skilful  tongue  than  mine.  Should  I  make 
the  effort,  the  feelings  under  which  I  labor  would 
disqualify  me  for  the  performance.  But  thus  much 
will  I  venture  to  say  :  the  head  and  the  heart  con 
stitute  all  that  really  make  the  man.  Of  his  high 
intellectual  powers,  so  happily  blended,  the  story  has 
at  once  been  told  with  equal  brevity  and  beauty  by 
one  of  the  worthiest  of  his  countrymen,  in  a  single 
sentence.  In  his  illustrations  of  mind,  "  the  lightning 
of  passion  flashed  along  the  links  of  the  iron  chain 
of  argument."  And,  sir,  of  his  heart,  and  that  deep 
sea  of  human  affection  in  which  it  floated,  the  story 
is  one  just  as  long  as  his  life,  and  of  touching  beauty. 
You  may  read  its  beginning  in  the  history  of  the 
New  Hampshire  farmer's  boy,  whose  deep  and  gen 
erous  fraternal  love  consecrated  his  earliest  earnings 
to  a  beloved  brother's  education  ;  you  may  read  its 
close  in  the  honest  tears  shed  over  his  remains  by  the 
faithful,  though  humble,  dependents,  who,  for  ten 
twenty,  aye,  even  thirty  years,  had  loved  his  service 
because  they  knew  his  kindness. 

But,  sir,  he  has  only  gone  before  us  ;  he  is  not 
lost  to  us.  He  yet  lives.  True,  we  have  said  "earth 
to  earth"  over  that  which  was  mortal,  but  he  has  left 
behind  him  that  which  I  would  fain  believe  his  coun 
trymen  "  will  not  willingly  let  die." 


236  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

It  only  remains  to  discharge  the  duty  attached 
to  me  by  submitting  the  following  preamble  and  reso 
lutions  : — 

"  Whereas^  The  dispensation  of  an  all-wise  Pro 
vidence  has  removed  from  the  earth  Hon.  Daniel 
Webster,  late  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
and  for  nearly  half  a  century  associated  in  the  coun 
cils,  and  identified  with  the  history  of  the  nation  ; 
and  whereas  (to  use  his  own  most  appropriate  and 
expressive  language),  'it  is  fit  that  we  commemorate 
the  services  of  national  benefactors,  extol  their  vir 
tues,  and  render  thanks  to  God  for  eminent  blessings 
early  given  and  long  continued  to  our  favored  coun 
try;'  therefore  we,  the  New-York  Historical  Society, 
as  a  body,  would  add  our  mournful  tribute  to  the 
sounds  of  sorrow  which  now  come  up  from  a  nation's 
heart,  at  the  bereavement,  which  but  too  forcibly  re 
minds  us  of  one  who,  springing  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people,  evinced,  with  the  generosity  natural  to  youth, 
the  resolute  determination  that  belongs  to  the  matu 
rity  of  manhood,  and  with  indefatigable  industry, 
surmounting  obstacles  amidst  the  vast  labors  of  an 
arduous  profession,  and  continuous  devotion  to  legis 
lative  duties,  prosecuted  his  extended  researches  in 
the  domains  of  general  learning,  having  acquired  in 
early  life  those  solid  attainments  which  formed  the 
strong  foundation  on  which  he  reared  in  after  times 
an  intellectual  structure,  on  which  men  looked  with 
undiminished  admiration  to  the  last,  brought  to  the 
service  of  his  country  the  best  labors  of  his  head  and 
the  best  affections  of  his  heart ;  maintained  his  prin 
ciples  with  an  energy,  manliness  and  eloquence,  worthy 


REV.  DR.  HAWKS'S    REMARKS.  237 

an  American  statesman  ;  with  an  indomitable  moral 
courage,  stood  ever  fearlessly  in  the  front  rank  in 
defence  of  the  Constitution,  regardless  of  personal 
consequences  ;  with  an  intensity  of  patriotism  worthy 
of  the  purest  days  of  the  Republic,  acknowledged  no 
earthly  allegiance,  and  rendered  no  loyalty  save  to 
his  country  and  his  whole  country ;  and,  finally,  with 
calm  dignity,  in  beautiful  harmony  with  his  long  and 
illustrious  career,  met  death  with  a  '  reasonable,  re 
ligious  and  holy  hope ; '  thus,  after  '  sounding  all  the 
depths  and  shoals  of  honor,'  adding  the  weight  of  his 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  God,  and  relinquishing  the 
glories  of  the  statesman,  to  repose  his  soul  in  the 
humblest  hope  of  the  Christian. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  we  thus  feebly  express  our 
sympathies  in  the  nation's  loss,  we  feel  the  true  and 
appropriate  tribute  which  becomes  American  citizens 
in  youth  to  imitate  his  indefatigable  industry;  in 
manhood  his  honorable  and  disinterested  patriotism  ; 
and  so  live,  that,  in  old  age,  theirs  may  be,  as  was 
his,  the  tranquil  composure,  which,  resting  on  a 
Christian's  hope,  disarmed  death  of  his  terrors. 

"  Resolved^  That  these  resolutions  be  entered  on 
the  journal  of  the  Society,  and  a  copy  thereof,  duly 
authenticated  by  the  officers  of  the  New-York  His 
torical  Society,  be  forwarded  to  the  immediate  rela 
tives  of  Mr.  Webster." 


238  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTEK. 


MR.  WEESTER  IX  COLLEGE. 


Prof.  Shurtleff,  of  Dartmouth  College,  made  the 
following  remarks  at  a  meeting  held  on  receiving  in 
telligence  of  Mr.  Webster's  death : 

I  wish  for  liberty  to  state,  before  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  a  few  facts  in  Mr.  Webster's  history  for  the 
benefit  of  the  young  gentlemen  in  College. 

When  I  came  to  enter  this  Institution  in  1797,  J 
put  up,  with  others  from  the  same  Academy,  at  what 
is  now  called  the  Olcott  House,  which  was  then  a 
tavern.  We  were  conducted  to  a  chamber,  where  we 
might  brush  our  clothes  and  make  ready  for  examina 
tion.  A  young  man,  a  stranger  to  us  all,  was  soon 
ushered  into  the  room.  Similarity  of  object  ren 
dered  the  ordinary  forms  of  introduction  needless. 
We  learned  that  his  name  was  Webster,  also  where 
he  had  studied,  and  how  much  Latin  and  Greek  he 
had  read,  which  I  think  was  just  to  the  limit  pre 
scribed  by  law  at  that  period,  and  which  was  very 
much  below  the  present  requisition. 

Mr.  Webster,  while  in  College,  was  remarkable 
for  his  steady  habits,  his  intense  application  to  study, 
and  his  punctual  attendance  upon  all  the  prescribed 
exercises.  I  know  not  that  he  was  absent  from  a  re 
citation,  or  from  morning  and  evening  prayers  in  the 
Chapel,  or  from  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath ;  and 
I  doubt  if  ever  a  smile  was  seen  upon  his  face  dur 
ing  any  religious  exercise.  He  was  always  in  his 
place,  and  with  a  decorum  suited  to  it.  He  had  no 
collision  with  any  one,  nor  appeared  to  enter  into  the 


WEBSTER   IN    COLuEGE.  239 

concerns  of  others,  but  emphatically  minded  his  own 
business. 

But  as  steady  as  the  sun,  he  pursued  with  intense 
application  the  great  object  for  which  he  came  to 
College.  This  I  conceive  was  the  secret  of  his  popu 
larity  in  College,  and  his  success  in  subsequent  life. 
But  notwithstanding  Mr.  Webster's  constancy  and 
sobriety  at  religious  services,  I  never  spoke  to  him 
in  regard  to  his  opinions  and  feelings  on  the  all-impor 
tant  subject,  and  I  know  not  that  he  uttered  them  to 
the  members  of  his  own  class.  A  few  years,  how 
ever,  after  he  left  College,  either  while  a  student  at 
law,  or  soon  after  he  opened  an  office,  I  heard  that  he 
had  become  a  professor  of  religion  by  joining  an  or 
thodox  church;  and  I  think  his  Christian  example 
was  without  reproach,  so  long  as  he  remained  in  his 
native  State 

For  several  years  after  his  removal  I  could  hear 
little  in  regard  to  his  religious  course,  and  the  thought 
occurred  to  me  that  such  eminent  men  might  suffer 
for  the  want  of  direct  personal  influence  through  the 
fear  of  their  pastor  to  approach  them ;  and  it  ap 
peared  that  considering  my  age  and  profession,  and 
relation  to  those  who  had  been  educated  at  Dart 
mouth,  it  belonged  to  me  as  much  as  to  any  one,  so 
far  as  I  could,  to  supply  the  deficiency.  About  two 
years  ago,  being  in  Boston,  I  received  a  message  in- 
riting  me  to  an  interview  with  Mr.  Webster  at  the 
house  of  a  mutual  friend.  The  call  was  gladly  re 
sponded  to  ;  and  while  I  was  crossing  the  street,  my 
resolution  recurred  to  me.  He  met  me  with  his  usual 
cordiality,  and  when  I  attempted  to  turn  the  conver- 


240  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

sation  towards  religion,  he  at  once  anticipated  me, 
and  laid  the  subject  fully  open  between  us ;  and  I 
need  not  tell  you  how  much  I  was  gratified  in  finding 
that  not  only  his  opinions  in  regard  to  the  great  doc 
trines  and  duties  of  our  holy  religion,  but  also  his 
views  of  what  is  needful  to  prepare  a  soul  for  death 
and  the  coming  judgment,  were  in  sympathy  with  my 
own. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER  S   FAMILY   RECOLLECTIONS. 

In  a  letter  dated  Franklin,  N.  H.,  May  8d,  1846,  to  a  friend  in  New- York, 
communicated  to  the  Commercial  Advertiser. 

I  have  made  satisfactory  arrangements  respecting 
my  house  here,  the  best  of  which  is,  that  I  can  leave 
it  where  it  is,  and  yet  be  comfortable,  notwithstand 
ing  the  railroad. 

This  house  faces  due  north.  Its  front  windows 
look  toward  the  river  Merrimack.  But  then  the  river 
soon  turns  to  the  south,  so  that  the  eastern  windows 
look  toward  the  river  also.  But  the  river  has  so 
deepened  its  channel  in  this  stretch  of  it,  in  the  last 
fifty  years,  that  we  cannot  see  its  waters,  without  ap 
proaching  it,  or  going  back  to  the  higher  lands  be 
hind  us.  The  history  of  this  change  is  of  consider 
able  importance  in  the  philosophy  of  streams.  I  have 
observed  it  practically,  and  know  something  of  the 
theory  of  the  phenomenon ;  but  I  doubt  whether 
the  world  will  ever  be  benefited,  either  by  my  learn 
ing,  or  my  observation,  in  this  respect. 

Looking  out  at  the  east  windows  at  this  moment, 


FAMILY    RECOLLECTIONS.  241 

(2  P.  M.)  with  a  beautiful  sun  just  breaking  out,  my 
eye  sweeps  a  rich  and  level  field  of  100  acres.  At 
the  end  of  it,  a  third  of  a  mile  off,  I  see  plain  marble 
grave-stones,  designating  the  places  where  repose  my 
father,  my  mother,  my  brother  Joseph,  and  my  sis 
ters  Mehitable,  Abigail,  and  Sarah ;  good  Scripture 
names,  inherited  from  their  Puritan  ancestors. 

My  father  !  Ebenezer  Webster  ! — born  at  Kings 
ton,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State,  in  1739 — the 
handsomest  man  I  ever  saw,  except  my  brother  Eze- 
kiel,  who  appeared  to  me,  and  so  does  he  now  seem 
to  me,  th'e  very  finest  human  form  that  ever  I  laid 
eyes  on.  I  saw  him  in  his  coffin — a  white  forehead — 
a  tinged  cheek — a  complexion  as  clear  as  heavenly 
light !  But  where  am  I  straying  ? 

The  grave  has  closed  upon  him,  as  it  has  on  all 
my  brothers  and  sisters.  We  shall  soon  be  all  toge 
ther.  But  this  is  melancholy — and  I  leave  it.  Dear, 
dear  kindred  blood,  how  I  love  you  all ! 

This  fair  field  is  before  me — I  could  see  a  lamb 
on  any  part  of  it.  I  have  ploughed  it,  and  raked  it, 
and  hoed  it,  but  I  never  mowed  it.  Somehow,  I 
could  never  learn  to  hang  a  scythe.  I  had  not  wit 
enough.  My  brother  Joe  used  to  say  that  my  father 
sent  me  to  college  in  order  to  make  me  equal  to  the 
rest  of  the  children  ! 

Of  a  hot  day  in  July — it  must  have  been  one  of 
the  last  years  of  Washington's  administration,  I 
was  making  hay  with  my  father,  just  where  I 
now  see  a  remaining  elm  tree,  about  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon.  The  Hon.  Abiel  Foster,  M.  C.,  who 
lived  in  Canterbury,  six  miles  off,  called  at  the  house, 

VOL.  II.  11 


242  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

and  came  into  the  field  to  see  my  father.  He  was  a 
worthy  man,  college  learned,  and  been  a  minister,  but 
was  not  a  person  of  any  considerable  natural  powers. 
My  father  was  his  friend  and  supporter.  He  talked 
awhile  in  the  field,  and  went  on  his  way.  "When  he 
was  gone,  my  father  called  me  to  him,  and  we  sat 
down  beneath  the  elm  on  a  hay-cock.  He  said,  "  My 
son,  that  is  a  worthy  man — he  is  a  member  of  Con 
gress — he  goes  to  Philadelphia,  and  gets  six  dollars 
a  day,  while  I  toil  here.  It  is  because  he  had  an 
education,  which  I  never  had.  If  I  had  had  his 
early  education,  I  should  have  been  in  Philadelphia, 
in  his  place.  I  came  near  it  as  it  was.  But  I 
missed  it,  and  now  I  must  work  here."  "  My  dear  fa 
ther,"  said  I,  "  you  shall  not  work.  Brother  and  I 
will  work  for  you,  and  wear  our  hands  out,  and  you 
shall  rest" — and  I  remember  to  have  cried — and  I 
cry  now  at  the  recollection.  "  My  child,"  said  he, 
"  it  is  of  no  importance  to  me — I  now  live  but  for  my 
children ;  I  could  not  give  your  elder  brother  the  ad 
vantages  of  knowledge,  but  I  can  do  something  for 
you.  Exert  yourself — improve  your  opportunities — • 
learn — learn — and  when  I  am  gone,  you  will  not 
need  to  go  through  the  hardships  which  I  have  un 
dergone,  and  which  have  made  me  an  old  man  before 
my  time." 

The  next  May  he  took  me  to  Exeter,  to  the 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy — placed  me  under  the 
tuition  of  its  excellent  preceptor,  Dr.  Benjamin  Ab 
bott,  still  living. 

My  father  died  in  April,  1806.  I  neither  left 
him,  nor  forsook  him.  My  opening  an  office  at  Bos- 


WEBSTER'S  LIBRARY.  243 

cawen  was  that  I  might  be  near  him.  I  closed  his 
eyes  in  this  very  house.  He  died  at  sixty-seven 
years  of  age — after  a  life  of  exertion,  toil,  and  expo 
sure — a  private  soldier,  an  officer,  a  legislator,  a 
judge — every  thing  that  a  man  could  be,  to  whom 
learning  never  had  disclosed  her  "  ample  page." 

My  first   speech   at  the  bar  was  made  when  he 
was  on  the  bench — he  never  heard  me  a  second  time. 

He  had  in  him  what  I  recollect  to  have  been  the 
character  of  some  of  the  old  Puritans.  He  was 
deeply  religious,  but  not  sour — on  the  contrary,  good- 
humored,  facetious — showing  even  in  his  age,  with  a 
contagious  laugh,  teeth,  all  as  white  as  alabaster — 
gentle,  soft,  playful — and  yet  having  a  heart  in  him, 
that  he  seemed  to  have  borrowed  from  a  lion.  He 
could  frown  ;  a  frown  it  was,  but  cheerfulness,  good 
humor,  and  smiles,  composed  his  most  usual  aspect. 
Ever  truly,  your  friend, 

DAN'L  WEBSTER. 


MR,    WEBSTER'S    LIBRARY,    AND    CONVERSATION   ON   THE   SCRIPTURES. 

Around  the  Library  room,  writes  a  correspondent 
of  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  upon  all  sides,  was  that 
choice  selection  of  books  that  the  owner  had  carefully 
gathered  in  Europe  and  America,  during  the  last 
thirty  years.  There  had  often  spoke  to  him  the  kin 
dred  minds  of  Bacon,  Milton,  Shakspeare,  Chatham 
and  Burke.  There  he  had  been  pleased  with  the 
lesser  poets,  such  as  Gray,  the  author  of  the  Elegy 
in  the  Country  Church  Yard,  which  he  indistinctly 


244  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

called  for  on  the  night  of  his  death.  This  was  a 
favorite  room  with  the  owner,  and  there  he  was  ac 
customed  to  sit,  and  write,  and  read.  On  a  Sabbath, 
when  detained  from  the  house  of  God  by  ill  health, 
as  he  often  was  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  he 
was  accustomed  to  peruse  the  book  that  he  regarded 
as  the  best  of  all — the  Bible,  and  commentaries  there 
upon.  For  a  Sunday  sermon  he  delighted  to  read 
one  from  Dr.  Barrow,  a  prince  of  English  sermonizers 
of  the  1 7th  century. 

It  was  in  this  very  room  that  the  writer,  who  had 
just  then  taken  charge  of  the  parish  to  which  Mr. 
Webster  belonged,  had  his  first  interview  with  him, 
several  summers  since.  The  conversation  turned 
upon  theological  and  Bible  topics.  Mr.  Webster 
discoursed  most  eloquently  upon  the  book  of  Job, 
which  has  been  for  many  years  a  favorite  portion  of 
Holy  Writ  with  him.  He  had  just  been  reading 
Barnes  on  Job.  and  did  not  agree  with  that  learned 
author,  whom  he  respected,  that  Job  was  an  histori 
cal  character.  Said  Mr.  Webster,  "  There  was  no 
such  person,  in  my  judgment,  as  J-o-b"  (spelling  the 
name  as  he  spoke).  "  Job  was  the  hero  of  a  great 
epic  poem,"  he  continued,  "  the  object  of  which  is  to 
teach  religious  truth :  a  poem  as  much  superior  to 
the  boasted  Homer  of  antiquity,  as  Homer  is  supe 
rior  to  the  production  of  a  mere  school-boy." 

After  discoursing  upon  other  portions  of  the 
Scriptures,  he  proceeded  to  speak  of  the  ministry  of 
this  and  a  former  day.  He  spoke  of  the  great  elo 
quence  of  Dr.  Osgood,  of  Medford,  whom  he  was  ac 
customed  to  hear  often  when  he  first  removed  to 


EVIDENCES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  245 

Boston,  in  1816.  He  spoke  of  how  the  cause  of 
orthodoxy  was  protected  in  the  north  of  Boston,  by 
the  indefatigable  Dr.  Morse  of  Charlestown,  "  a  man 
who  was  always  thinking,  always  reading,  always 
writing,  always  preaching,  always  acting ;" — of  Rev. 
Dr.  Codman,  who  maintained  the  cause  of  the  South 
at  Dorchester,  and  of  other  clergymen  of  that  day. 
It  was  his  impression,  that  the  clergy  of  that  day 
were  more  strictly  students  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
abler  divines  and  preachers,  than  those  of  the  present 
day.  He  expressed  the  idea,  that  though  the  minis 
ters  of  our  day  had  been  quite  useful  in  giving  so 
much  of  their  attention,  as  they  have,  to  the  various 
charities  and  other  labors,  than  those  more  strictly 
belonging  to  their  profession,  they  have  lost  as  stu 
dents,  and  pastors,  and  as  to  their  power  in  the  pul 
pit.  "  But  after  all,"  said  the  profound  critic,  "  I  do 
not  know ;  I  cannot  judge  for  others ;  perhaps  I 
ought  not  to  have  ventured  these  suggestions." 


MR.    WEBSTER    ON    THE    EVIDENCES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

A  few  evenings  since,  says  a  writer  in  the  Con 
gregational  Journal,  sitting  by  his  own  fireside,  after 
a  day  of  severe  labor  in  the  Supreme  Court,  Mr. 
Webster  introduced  the  last  Sabbath's  sermon,  and 
discoursed  in  animated  and  glowing  eloquence  for  an 
hour  on  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel.  I  cannot 
but  regard  the  opinions  of  such  a  man  in  some  sense 
as  public  property.  This  is  my  apology  for  attempt- 


246  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ing  to  recall  some  of  those  remarks  which  were  ut 
tered  in  the  privacy  of  the  domestic  circle. 

Said  Mr.  Webster :  "  Last  Sabbath  I  listened  to 
an  able  and  learned  discourse  upon  the  evidences  of 
Christianity.  The  arguments  were  drawn  from 
prophecy,  history,  with  internal  evidence.  They  were 
stated  with  logical  accuracy  and  force ;  but,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  the  clergyman  failed  to  draw  from  them 
the  right  conclusion.  He  came  so  near  the  truth 
that  I  was  astonished  he  missed  it.  In  summing  up 
his  arguments,  he  said  the  only  alternative  presented 
by  these  evidences  is  this  :  Either  Christianity  is  true, 
or  it  is  a  delusion  produced  by  an  excited  imagination. 
Such  is  not  the  alternative,  said  the  critic  ;  but  it  is 
this  :  the  Gospel  is  either  true  history,  or  it  is  a  con 
summate  fraud  ;  it  is  either  a  reality  or  an  imposi 
tion.  Christ  was  what  he  professed  to  be,  or  he  was 
an  impostor.  There  is  no  other  alternative.  His 
spotless  life  in  his  earnest  enforcement  of  the  truth,  his 
suffering  in  its  defence,  forbids  us  to  suppose  that  he 
was  suffering  an  illusion  of  the  heated  brain. 

Every  act  of  his  pure  and  holy  life  shows  that  he 
was  the  author  of  truth,  the  advocate  of  truth,  the 
earnest  defender  of  truth,  and  the  uncomplaining 
sufferer  for  truth.  Now,  considering  the  purity  of 
his  doctrines,  the  simplicity  of  his  life,  and  the  sub 
limity  of  his  death,  is  it  possible  that  he  would  have 
died  for  an  illusion?  In  all  his  preaching  the  Saviour 
made  no  popular  appeals.  His  discourses  were  all 
directed  to  the  individual.  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
sought  to  impress  upon  every  man  the  conviction  that 
he  must  stand  or  fall  alone — he  must  live  for  himself 


EVIDENCES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  247 

and  die  for  himself,  and  give  up  his  account  to  the 
omniscient  God,  as  though  he  were  the  only  dependent 
creature  in  the  Universe.  The  Gospel  leaves  the 
individual  sinner  alone  with  himself  and  his  God.  To 
his  own  master  he  stands  or  falls.  He  has  nothing 
to  hope  from  the  aid  and  sympathy  of  associates. 
The  deluded  advocates  of  new  doctrines  do  not  so 
preach.  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  had  they  been  de 
ceivers,  would  not  have  so  preached. 

If  clergymen  in  our  days  would  return  to  the 
simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  and  preach  more  to  indi 
viduals  and  less  to  the  crowd,  there  would  not  be  so 
much  complaint  of  the  decline  of  true  religion.  Many 
of  the  ministers  of  the  present  day  take  their  text 
from  St.  Paul,  and  preach  from  the  newspapers. 
When  they  do  so,  I  prefer  to  enjoy  my  own  thoughts 
rather  than  to  listen.  I  want  my  pastor  to  come  to 
me  in  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  saying,  "  You  are 
mortal !  your  probation  is  brief ;  your  work  must  be 
done  speedily.  You  are  immortal,  too.  You  are 
hastening  to  the  bar  of  God  ;  the  Judge  standeth 
before  the  door."  When  I  am  thus  admonished,  I 
have  no  disposition  to  muse  or  to  sleep.  "These  topics," 
said  Mr.  Webster,  "have  often  occupied  my  thoughts; 
and  if  I  had  time  I  would  write  on  them  myself." 

The  above  remarks  are  but  a  meagre  and  imper 
fect  abstract,  from  memory,  of  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  sermons  to  which  I  ever  listened. 


248  PERSONAL    ANECDOTES. 

MR.  AVE'BSTER  rx  1830. 

The  late  Col.  Samuel  L.  Knapp  thus  described 
Mr.  Webster's  personal  characteristics,  twenty-two 
years  ago  : 

The  person  of  Mr.  Webster  is  singular  and  com 
manding  ;  his  height  is  above  the  ordinary  size,  but 
he  cannot  be  called  tall ;  he  is  broad  across  the  chest, 
and  stoutly  and  firmly  built,  but  there  is  nothing  of 
clumsiness  either  in  his  form  or  gait.  His  head  is  very 
large,  his  forehead  high,  with  good  shaped  temples. 
He  has  a  large,  black,  solemn  looking  eye,  that  ex- 
bibits  strength  and  steadfastness,  and  which  sometimes 
burns,  but  seldom  sparkles.  His  hair  is  of  raven 
black,  and  both  thick  and  short,  without  the  mark  of 
gray  hair.  His  eyebrows  are  of  the  same  color,  thick 
and  strongly  marked,  which  give  his  features  the  ap 
pearance  of  sternness  ;  but  the  general  expression  of 
his  face,  after  it  is  properly  examined,  is  rather  mild 
and  amiable  than  otherwise.  His  movements  in  the 
-house  and  in  the  street  are  slow  and  dignified ;  there 
is  no  peculiar  sweetness  in  his  voice — its  tones  are 
rather  harsh  than  musical  ;  still  there  is  a  variety  in 
them,  and  some  of  them  catch  the  ear  and  chain  it 
down  to  the  most  perfect  attention.  He  bears  traits 
of  great  mental  labor,  but  no  marks  of  age  ;  in  fact, 
his  person  is  more  imposing  now,  in  his  forty-eighth 
year,  than  it  was  at  thirty  years  of  age.  His  manners 
at  the  bar,  and  in  the  deliberative  assembly,  are  pe 
culiar.  Hear  him,  and  you  will  say  that  his  eloquence 
is  founded  on  no  model,  ancient  or  modern — all  hia 
own  excellences  and  defects.  His  voice  has  an  ex- 


LETTER    ON    THE    MORNING.  249 

traordinary  compass.  His  emphasis  belongs  to  himself 
alone  ;  it  is  founded  on  no  rule,  nor  can  it  be  reduced 
to  any. 


MR.  WEBSTER'S  LETTER  ON  THE  MORNING. 

The  following  beautiful  letter,  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  "Webster,  was  written  to  a  friend  some  years  ago. 
It  will  be  read  with  much  interest,  not  only  for  its 
intrinsic  beauties,  but  as  a  purely  literary  production : 

EICHMOND,  VA.,      ) 
Five  o'clock,  A.  M.,  April  29, 1852.    j 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :— Whether  it  be  a  favor  or  an 
annoyance,  you  owe  this  letter  to  my  early  habits  of 
rising.  From  the  hour  marked  at  the  top  of  the 
page,  you  will  naturally  conclude  that  my  companions 
are  not  now  engaging  my  attention,  as  we  have  not 
calculated  on  being  early  travellers  to-day. 

This  city  has  a  "  pleasant  seat."  It  is  high ;  the 
James  river  runs  below  it,  and  when  I  went  out,  an 
hour  ago,  nothing  was  heard  but  the  roar  of  the  Falls. 
The  air  is  tranquil  and  its  temperature  mild.  It  is 
morning,  and  a  morning  sweet  and  fresh,  and  delight 
ful.  Everybody  knows  the  morning  in  its  metaphori 
cal  sense,  applied  to  so  many  occasions.  The  health, 
strength,  and  beauty  of  early  years,  lead  us  to  call 
that  period  the  "morning  of  life."  Of  a  lovely  young 
woman  we  say  she  is  "  bright  as  the  morning,"  and 
no  one  doubts  why  Lucifer  is  called  "  son  of  the 
morning." 

But  the  morning  itself,  few  people,  inhabitants  of 


250  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

cities,  know  anything  about.  Among  all  our  good 
people,  no  one  in  a  thousand  sees  the  sun  rise  once 
in  a  year.  They  know  nothing  of  the  morning, 
Their  idea  of  it  is,  that  it  is  that  part  of  the 
day  which  comes  along  after  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a 
beefsteak,  or  a  piece  of  toast.  "With  them  morning 
is  not  a  new  issuing  of  light,  a  new  bursting  forth  of 
the  sun,  a  new  waking  up  of  all  that  has  life  from  a 
sort  of  temporary  death,  to  behold  again  the  works 
of  God,  the  heavens  and  the  earth ;  it  is  only  a  part 
of  the  domestic  day,  belonging  to  reading  the  news 
papers,  answering  notes,  sending  the  children  to  school 
and  giving  orders  for  dinner,  The  first  streak  of 
light,  the  earliest  purpling  of  the  east,  which  the  lark 
springs  up  to  greet,  and  the  deeper  and  deeper  color 
ing  into  orange  and  red,  till  at  length  the  "  glorious 
sun  is  seen,  regent  of  the  day"— this  they  never  enjoy, 
for  they  never  see  it. 

Beautiful  descriptions  of  the  morning  abound  in 
all  languages,  but  they  are  the  strongest  perhaps  in 
the  East,  where  the  sun  is  often  an  object  of  worship. 

King  David  speaks  of  taking  to  himself  the 
"wings  of  the  morning,"  This  is  highly  poetical 
and  beautiful.  The  wings  of  the  morning  are  the 
beams  of  the  rising  sun.  Rays  of  light  are  wings, 
It  is  thus  said  that  the  sun  of  righteousness  shall 
arise  "  with  healing  in  his  wings  "-—a  rising  sun  that 
shall  scatter  life,  health  and  joy  throught  the  Universe. 

Milton  has  fine  descriptions  of  morning,  but  not 
so  many  as  Shakspeare,  from  whose  writings  pages  of 
the  most  beautiful  imagery,  all  founded  on  the  glory 
of  morning,  might  be  filled. 


DEDICATIONS    OF    HIS    SPEECHES.  251 

I  never  thought  that  Adam  had  much  the  advan 
tage  of  us  from  having  seen  the  world  while  it  was 
new. 

The  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God,  like  His 
mercies,  are  "  new  every  morning,"  and  fresh  every 
moment. 

We  see  as  fine  risings  of  the  sun  as  ever  Adam 
saw ;  and  its  risings  are  as  much  a  miracle  now  as 
they  were  in  his  day,  and  I  think  a  good  deal  more, 
because  it  is  now  a  part  of  the  miracle,  that  for 
thousands  and  thousands  of  years  he  has  come  to  his 
appointed  time,  without  the  variation  of  a  millionth 
part  of  a  second.  Adam  could  not  tell  how  this 
might  be.  I  know  the  morning — I  am  acquainted 
with  it,  and  I  love  it.  I  love  it  fresh  and  sweet  as  it 
is — a  daily  new  creation,  breaking  forth  and  calling 
all  that  have  life  and  breath  and  being  to  new  adora 
tion,  new  enjoyments,  and  new  gratitude. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


MR,  WEBSTER'S  DEDICATIONS  OF  HIS  six  VOLUMES  OF  SPEECHES. 

The  following  are  Mr.  Webster's  tributes  of  affec 
tion  to  his  family  and  friends,  and  to  the  memory  of 
the  dead,  displayed  in  the  dedication  of  his  speeches 
and  writings  recently  published  in  six  volumes  : 

DEDICATION  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 

To  MY  NIECES,  MRS.  ALICE  BRIDGE  WHIFFLE,  AND 

MRS.  MARY  ANN  SANBORN: 
Many  of  the  speeches  contained  in  this  volume 
were  delivered  and  printed  in  the  lifetime  of  your 


252  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

father,  whose  fraternal  affection  led  him  to  speak  of 
them  with  approbation.  His  death  which  happened 
when  he  had  only  just  passed  the  middle  period  of 
life,  left  you  without  a  father,  and  me  without  a 
brother.  I  dedicate  this  volume  to  you,  not  only  for 
the  love  I  have  for  yourselves,  but  also  as  a  tribute 
of  affection  to  his  memory,  and  from  a  desire  that 
the  name  of  my  brother  Ezekiel  Webster,  may  be 
associated  with  mine,  as  long  as  anything  written  or 
spoken  by  me  shall  be  regarded  or  read. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

DEDICATION   OF  THE  SECOND   YOLTIME. 

To  ISAAC  P.  DAVIS,  ESQ.  : 

My  Dear  Sir : — A  warm  private  friendship  has 
subsisted  between  us  for  half  our  lives,  interrupted 
by  no  untoward  occurrences,  and  never  for  a  moment 
cooling  with  indifference.  Of  this  friendship,  the 
source  of  so  much  happiness  to  me,  I  wish  to  leave, 
if  not  an  enduring  memorial,  at  least  an  affectionate 
and  grateful  acknowledgment.  I  inscribe  this  vo 
lume  to  you. 

DEDICATION   OF  THE  THIRD  VOLUME. 

To  MRS.   CAROLINE  LE  ROY  WEBSTER- 

My  dearly-beloved  Wife : — I  cannot  allow  theso 
volumes  to  go  to  the  press,  without  containing  a 
tribute  of  my  affection  and  some  acknowledgment  of 
the  deep  interest  that  you  have  felt  in  the  produc 
tions  which  they  contain.  Yon  have  witnessed  the 
origin  of  most  of  them,  not  with  less  concern,  cer 
tainly,  than  has  been  felt  by  their  author;  and  the 
degree  of  favor  with  whieh  they  may  now  be  received 


DEDICATIONS    OF    HIS    SPEECHES.  253 


by  the  public,  will  be  as  earnestly  regarded,  I  am 
sure,  by  you  as  by  myself.  The  opportunity  seems 
also  a  fit  one  for  expressing  the  high  and  warm  regard 
which  I  ever  entertained  for  your  honored  father,  now 
deceased,  and  the  respect  and  esteem  which  I  cherish 
towards  the  members  of  that  amiable  and  excellent 
family  to  which  you  belong. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  FOURTH  VOLUME. 


To  FLETCHER  WEBSTER,  ESQ.  : 

My  dear  Sir  : — I  dedicate  one  of  the  volumes  of 
these    speeches    to   the   memory  of    your    deceased 
brother  and  sister,  and  I  am  devoutly  thankful  that 
I  am  able  to  inscribe  another  volume  to  you,  my 
only  surviving  child,  and  the  object  of  my  affection 
and  hopes.     You  have  been  of  an  age,  at  the  appear 
ance  of  most  of  these  speeches  and  writings  at  which 
you  were  able  to  read  and  understand  them  ;  and  in 
the  preparation  of  some  of  them  you  have  taken  no 
unimportant  part.      Among  the   diplomatic   papers, 
there  are  several  written  by  yourself  wholly  or  mainly, 
at  the  time  when  official  and  confidential  connections 
subsisted  between  us  in  the  Department  of  State. 
The  principles  and  opinions  expressed  in  these  pro 
ductions  are  such  as  I  believe  to  be  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  the  maintenance  of  the 
Constitution,  and  the  advancement  of  the  country  to 
still  higher  stages  of  prosperity  and  renown.     These 
objects   have    constituted,  my  pole    star  during   the 
whole  of  my  political  life,  which  has  now  extended 
through  more  than  half  the  period  of  the  existence 


254  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  the  government.  And  I  know,  my  dear  son,  that 
neither  parental  authority  nor  parental  example  is 
necessary  to  induce  you,  in  whatever  capacity,  public 
or  private,  you  may  be  called  to  act,  to  devote  your 
self  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  same  ends. 

YOUR    AFFECTIONATE    FATHER. 

DEDICATION  OF  THE   FIFTH  VOLUME. 

To  J.  W.  PAGE,  ESQ.: 

My  dear  Sir: — The  friendship  which  has  sub 
sisted  so  long  between  us,  springs  not  more  from  our 
close  family  connections,  than  from  similarity  of 
opinions  and  sentiments.  I  count  it  among  the  ad 
vantages  and  pleasures  of  my  life  ;  and  pray  you  to 
allow  me  as  a  slight,  but  grateful  token  of  my  esti 
mate  of  it,  to  dedicate  to  you  this  volume  of  my 
speeches. 

DEDICATION  OF  THE  SIXTH  VOLUME. 

With  the  warmest  parental  affection,  mingled  with 
afflicted  feelings,  I  dedicate  this  the  last  volume  of  my 
works,  to  the  memory  of  my  deceased  children,  Julia 
Webster  Appleton,  beloved  in  all  the  relations  of 
daughter,  wife,  mother,  sister,  and  friend ;  and  Major 
Edward  Webster,  who  died  in  Mexico,  in  the  military 
service  of  the  United  States,  with  unblemished  honor 
and  reputation,  and  who  entered  the  service  solely 
from  a  desire  to  be  useful  to  his  country,  and  do 
honor  to  the  State  in  which  he  was  born. 

"  Go,  gentle  spirits,  to  your  destined  rest ; 
While  I — reversed  our  Nature's  kindlier  doom, 
Pour  forth  a  Father's  sorrow  on  your  tomb." 

DANIEL  WEBSTEH. 


THE    GREAT    ARE    FALLING    FROM    US.  255 

These  eloquent  and  unique  tributes  to  living  and 
departed  kindred  and  worth,  we  venture  to  say,  will 
be  admired  and  appreciated  wherever  the  English 
language  is  spoken  or  the  social  affections  are  cherish 
ed.  They  will  serve  as  models  for  this  class  of  com 
position,  and  are  worthy  accompaniments  of  the 
treasures  of  intellectual  worth  displayed  in  the  vo 
lumes  to  which  they  are  affixed.  Their  publication 
in  a  combined  form,  we  doubt  not,  will  be  deemed 
appropriate  at  this  time,  particularly  to  that  nume 
rous  class  of  readers  to  whom  these  voluminous 
works  are  not  readily  accessible. 


THE   GREAT   ARE   FALLING    FROM   US. 
BT  Tk  BUCHANAN  READ. 

The  great  are  falling  from  us — to  the  dust, 
Our  flag  droops  midway,  full  of  many  sighs  ; 

A  nation's  glory  and  a  people's  trust 
Lie  in  the  ample  pall  where  Webster  liea. 

The  great  are  falling  from  us — one  by  one, 
As  fall  the  patriarchs  of  the  forest  trees  ; 

The  winds  shall  seek  them  vainly,  and  the  sun 
Gaze  on  each  vacant  space  for  centuries. 

Lo,  Carolina  mourns  her  steadfast  Pine, 

Which,  like  a  mainmast,  towered  above  her  realm ; 

And  Ashland  hears  no  more  the  voice  divine, 
From  out  the  branches  of  her  stately  elm. 

And  Marshflcld's  giant  oak,  whose  stormy  brow- 
Oft  turned  the  ocean  tempest  from  the  West, 

Lies  on  the  shore  he  guarded  long— and  now, 
Our  startled  Eagle  knows  not  where  to  rest  1 


256  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


LETTERS      OF     MR.     WEBSTER   TO     HI8     FARMER,    JOHN     TAYLOR,      AT 
FRANKLIN,    N.    H. 

WASHINGTON,  March  13,  1822. 

John  Taylor : — I  am  glad  to  hear  from  you  again, 
and  to  learn  that  you  are  well,  and  that  your  teams 
and  tools  are  ready  for  Spring's  work,  whenever  the 
weather  will  allow  you  to  begin. ..  I  sometimes  read 
books  on  farming ;  and  I  remember  that  a  very  sensi 
ble  old  author  advises  farmers  "  to  plough  naked  and 
sow  naked."  By  this  he  means  that  there  is  no  use 
in  beginning  Spring's  work  till  the  weather  is  warm, 
that  a  farmer  may  throw  aside  his  Winter  clothes  and 
roll  up  his  sleeves.  Yet  he  says  we  ought  to  begin  as 
early  in  the  year  as  possible.  He  wrote  some  very 
pretty  verses  on  the  subject,  which  as  far  as  I  re 
member,  run  thus : 

"  While  yet  the  Spring  is  young,  \vhile  earth  unbinds 
The  frozen  bosom  to  the  western  winds ; 
While  mountain  snows  dissolve  against  the  sun, 
And  streams,  yet  new,  from  precipices  run — 
E'en  in  this  early  dawning  of  the  year, 
Produce  the  plough,  and  yoke  the  sturdy  steer; 
And  goad  him  till  he  smoke  beneath  his  toil, 
And  the  bright  share  is  buried  in  the  soil." 

John  Taylor,  when  you  read  these  lines,  do  you 
not  see  the  snow  melting,  and  the  little  streams  be 
ginning  to  run  down  the  slopes  of  your  Punch-brook 
pasture,  and  the  new  grass  starting  and  growing  in 
the  trickling  water,  all  green,  bright  and  beautiful  1 
And  do  you  not  sec  your  Durham  oxen  moking  from 
heat  and  perspiration  as  they  draw  along  your  great 


LETTERS    TO    JOHN    TAYLOR.  25 Y 

breaking-up  plough,  cutting  and  turning  over  the 
tough  sward  in  your  meadow  in  the  great  field  ?  The 
name  of  this  sensible  author  is  Virgil ;  and  he  gives 
farmers  much  other  advice,  some  of  which  you  have 
been  following  all  the  Winter  without  even  knowing 
that  he  had  given  it. 

"But  when  cold  weather,  heavy  snow  and  rain, 
The  laboring  former  in  his  house  restrain, 
Let  him  forecast  his  work,  with  timely  care, 
Which  else  is  huddled  when  the  skies  are  fair  ; 
Then  let  him  mark  the  sheep,  and  whet  the  shining  share, 
Or  hollow  trees  for  boats ;  or  number  o'er 
His  sacks  ;  or  measure  his  increasing  store ; 
Or  sharpen  stakes,  and  mend  each  rake  and  fork, 
So  to  be  ready,  in  good  time,  to  work-  — 
Visit  his  crowded  barns  at  early  morn, 
Look  to  his  granary,  and  shell  his  corn ; 
Give  a  good  breakfast  to  his  numerous  kino, 
His  shivering  poultry  and  his  fattening  swine." 

And  Mr.  Virgil  says  some  other  things  which  you 
understand  up  at  Franklin  as  well  as  ever  he  did : 

"  In  chilling  Winter,  swains  enjoy  their  store, 
Forget  their  hardships,  and  recruit  for  more  ; 
The  farmer  to  full  feasts  invites  his  friends, 
And  what  he  got  with  pains,  with  pleasure  spends  ; 
Draws  chairs  around  the  fire,  and  tells  once  more 
Stories  which  often  have  been  told  before  ; 
Spreads  a  clean  table,  with  things  good  to  eat, 
And  adds  some  moistening  to  his  fruit  and  meat ; 
They  praise  his  hospitality,  and  feel 
They  shall  sleep  better  after  such  a  meal  I" 

John  Taylor,  by  the  time  you  have  got  through 
this,  you  will  have  read  enough.     The  sum  of  all  is, 


258  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

be  ready  for  your  Spring's  work  as  soon  as  the 
weather  becomes  warm  enough,  and  then  put  your 
hand  to  the  plough,  and  look  not  back. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

WASHINGTON,  March  17,  1852. 

John  Taylor : — Go  ahead :  The  heart  of  the  Win 
ter  is  broken,  and  before  the  1st  day  of  April,  all 
your  land  may  be  ploughed.  Buy  the  oxen  of  Captain 
Marston,  if  you  think  the  price  fair.  Pay  for  the 
hay.  I  send  you  a  check  for  $160,  for  these  two 
objects.  Put  the  great  oxen  in  a  condition  to  be 
turned  out  and  fattened.  You  have  a  good  horse- 
team,  and  I  think  in  addition  to  this,  four  oxen  and 
a  pair  of  four-year  old  steers  will  do  your  work.  If 
you  think  so,  then  dispose  of  the  Stevens  oxen,  or 
unyoke  them,  and  send  them  to  the  pasture  for  beef. 
I  know  not  when  I  shall  see  you,  but  I  hope  before 
planting.  If  you  need  any  thing,  such  as  guano,  for 
instance,  write  to  Joseph  Buck,  Esq.,  Boston,  and  he 
will  send  it  to  you. 

Whatever  ground  you  sow  or  plant,  see  that  it  is 
in  good  condition.  We  want  no  pennyroyal  crops. 
"  A  little  farm  well  tilled,"  is  to  a  farmer  the  next 
best  thing  to  a  "  little  wife  well  willed."  Cultivate 
your  garden.  Be  sure  to  produce  sufficient  quantities 
of  useful  vegetables.  A  man  may  half  support  his 
family  from  a  good  garden.  Take  care  to  keep  my 
mother's  garden  in  good  order,  even  if  it  cost  you  the 
wages  of  a  man  to  take  care  of  it.  I  have  sent  you 
many  garden  seeds.  Distribute  them  among  your 
neighbors.  Send  them  to  the  stores  in  the  village, 


LETTERS    TO    JOHN    TAYLOR.  259 

that  everybody  may  have  a  part  of  them  without' 
cost.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  chosen  Mr.  Pike  Re 
presentative.  He  is  a  true  man ;  but  there  are  in 
New  Hampshire  many  persons  who  call  themselves 
Whigs,  who  are  no  Whigs  at  all,  and  no  better  than 
disunionists.  Any  man  who  hesitates  in  granting  and 
securing  to  every  part  of  the  country  its  just  and  its 
constitutional  rights,  is  an  enemy  to  the  whole 
country. 

John  Taylor :  if  one  of  your  boys  should  say  that 
he  honors  his  father  and  mother,  and  loves  his  brothers 
and  sisters,  but  still  insists  that  one  of  them  shall  be 
driven  out  of  the  family,  what  can  you  say  of  him 
but  this,  that  there  is  no  real  family  love  in  him  ? 
You  and  I  are  farmers  ;  we  never  talk  politics  ;  our 
talk  is  of  oxen  ;  but  remember  this — that  any  man 
who  attempts  to  excite  one  part  of  the  country 
against  another,  is  just  as  wicked  as  he  would  be  who 
should  attempt  to  get  up  a  quarrel  between  John 
Taylor  and  his  neighbor,  old  Mr.  John  Sanborn,  or 
his  other  neighbor,  Captain  Burleigh.  There  are 
some  animals  that  live  best  in  the  fire,  and  there  are 
some  men  who  delight  in  heat,  smoke,  combustion, 
and  even  general  conflagration.  They  do  not  follow 
the  things  which  make  for  peace.  They  enjoy  only 
controversy,  contention  and  strife.  Have  no  com 
munion  with  such  persons,  either  as  neighbors  or 
politicians.  You  have  no  more  right  to  say  that 
Slavery  ought  not  to  exist  in  Virginia,  than  a  Vir 
ginian  has  to  say  that  Slavery  ought  to  exist  in 
New  Hampshire.  This  is  a  question  left  to  every 
State  to  decide  for  itself;  and  if  we  mean  to  keep  the 


2GO  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

States  together,  we  must  leave  to  every  State  this 
power  of  deciding  for  itself. 

I  think  I  never  wrote  you  a  word  before  upon 
politics.  I  shall  not  do  it  again.  I  only  say  love  your 
country,  and  your  whole  country ;  and  when  men  at 
tempt  to  persuade  you  to  get  into  a  quarrel  with  the 
laws  of  other  States,  tell  them  that  "you  mean  to  mind 
your  own  business,"  and  advise  them  to  mind  theirs. 
John  Taylor,  you  are  a  free  man  ;  you  possess  good 
principles  ;  you  have  a  large  family  to  rear  and  pro 
vide  for  by  your  labor.  Be  thankful  to  the  Govern 
ment  which  does  not  oppress  you,  which  does  not  bear 
you  down  by  excessive  taxation,  but  which  holds  out 
to  you  and  to  yours  the  hope  of  all  the  blessings 
which  liberty,  industry  and  security  may  give.  John 
Taylor,  thank  God,  morning  and  evening,  that  you 
were  born  in  such  a  country.  John  Taylor,  never 
write  me  another  word  upon  politics.  Give  my  kind 
est  remembrance  to  '  your  wife  and  children ;  and 
when  you  look  from  your  eastern  windows  upon  the 
graves  of  my  family,  remember  that  he  who  is  the 
author  of  this  letter,  must  soon  follow  them  to 
another  world. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


WEBSTEH   AND   FRANKLIN. 

I  recall  with  pleasure,  said  Dr.  J.  "VV.  Francis,  in 
some  remarks  before  the  New- York  Historical  So 
ciety,  a  conversation  once  held  with  Mr.  Webster 
in  regard  to  that  illustrious  sage.  No  individual 


LETTER    TO    HIS    OLD    SCHOOLMASTER.  261 

throughput  our  wide  domain  cherished  a  deeper  rev 
erence  for  the  talents  and  services  of  this  incompara 
ble  man  than  did  Mr.  Webster. 

In  a  discussion  which  arose  among  some  friends, 
at  a  social  board,  Mr.  Webster  was  asked  his  opinion 
concerning  the  political  and  fiscal  integrity  of  Frank 
lin,  a  subject  which  had  been  agitated  with  some  as 
perity. 

"  Gentlemen,"  answered  Mr.  Webster,  "  the  topic 
is  too  broad  for  present  discussion.  Among  all  our 
political  men,  Franklin  stands  prominent  for  astute 
ness,  sagacity  and  integrity.  Amidst  all  his  negotia 
tions,  though  the  depositary  of  innumerable  state 
transactions,  he  was  never  known  to  betray  the 
slightest  secret,  or  to  utter  a  hint  from  which  a  sinis 
ter  revelation  might  occur.  As  to  his  fiscal  integrity, 
who  knew  him  better  than  Washington  ?  And  had 
the  slightest  blemish  rested  upon  that  portion  of  his 
character,  would  that  exalted  man  have  nominated 
him  as  the  first  President  of  the  Union,  and  at  the 
time  when  he  himself  was  waited  upon  by  authoized 
delegates  to  urge  him  to  accept  that  vast  trust !  I 
want  no  other  demonstration  of  the  incorruptible 
principles  of  Franklin  than  that  nomination  by 
Washington." 


HIS  LETTER  TO  HIS  OLD  SCHOOLMASTER,    "  MASTER  TAPPAN. 

BOSTON,  July  20,  1852. 

MASTER  TAPPAN: — I  hear  with  much  pleasure, 
through  the  public  press,  that  you  continue  to  enjoy 


262  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

life,  with  mental  faculties  bright  and  vivid,  although 
you  have  arrived  at  a  very  advanced  age,  and  are 
somewhat  infirm.  I  came  to-day  from  the  very  spot, 
in  which  you  taught  me  ;  and,  to  me,  a  most  delight 
ful  spot  it  is.  The  river  and  the  hills  are  as  beauti 
ful  as  ever.  But  the  graves  of  my  father  and  mother, 
and  brothers  and  sisters,  and  early  friends,  give  it, 
to  me,  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  City  of  the 
Dead.  But  let  us  not  repine.  You  have  lived  long, 
and  my  life  is  already  not  short ;  and  we  have  both 
much  to  be  thankful  for.  Two  or  three  persons  are 
still  living,  who,  like  myself,  were  brought  up  sub  tua 
ferula.  They  remember  "  Master  Tappan." 

And  now,  my  good  old  master,  receive  a  renewed 
tribute  of  affectionate  regard,  from  your  grateful 
pupil ;  with  his  wishes  and  prayers,  for  your  happi 
ness,  in  all  that  remains  to  you,  of  this  life,  and  more 
especially,  for  your  rich  participation,  hereafter,  in 
the  more  durable  riches  of  Righteousness. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


MR.    WEBSTER  AND   TIIE   FARMER. 

Some  years  since,  says  a  correspondent  of  the 
New-York  Daily  Times,  Mr.  "Webster  started  off 
from  Marshfield  on  a  trouting  expedition  to  Sandwich, 
a  neighboring  town  on  Cape  Cod.  On  approaching 
a  fine  stream  he  alighted  from  his  wagon,  and  just 
then  he  met  the  owner  of  the  farm,  whose  stream  ran 
through  it.  "  Good  morning,"  says  Webster,  "  is 
there  any  trout  here  ?"  "  Well,"  says  the  farmer, 


HIS    RECREATIONS.  263 


"  some  people  fish  here,  but  I  don't  know  what  they 
do  get."  "  I'll  throw  my  line  in,"  says  Webster, 
"  and  see  what  there  is." 

Webster  walked  the  banks  of  the  stream  trying 
his  luck,  and  the  old  farmer  followed  him.  Soon 
Webster  remarked,  "You  have  some  bog  on  your 
farm."  "  Yes,"  says  the  farmer,  "  that  ain  t  the 
worst  of  it."  Fishing  still  further  along,  Webster 
says,  "  You  seem  to  have  plenty  of  mosquitoes  here." 
"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  that  ain't  the  worst  of  it."  Web 
ster  still  kept  on  throwing  his  line  into  the  deep  pools, 
and  then  said,  "  You  have  plenty  of  briers  here." 
"  Yes,"  says  the  farmer,  "  and  that  ain't  the  worst  of 
it."  Mr  Webster  getting  somewhat  discouraged  in 
a  hot  August  day,  bitten  by  mosquitoes,  scratched  by 
briers,  and  not  raising  a  single  fish,  dropped  his  rod 
and  said,  "he  didn't  believe  there  was  any  trout 
here." — «  And  that  ain't  the  worst  of  it,"  says  the 
farmer.  "  Well,"  says  Mr.  Webster,  «  I  would  like 
to  know  what  the  worst  of  it  is  ?"  "  There  never 
was  any  here  /"  says  the  farmer.  Mr.  Webster  en 
joyed  the  joke,  and  often  told  it  to  his  particular 
friends. 




HIS   RECREATIONS. 


This  taste  for  field  sports,  says  a  writer  in  the 
Spirit  of  the  Times,  Mr.  Webster  indulged  to  an 
extent  that  may  be  called  passionate.  With  his 
private  Secretary,  Mr.  Lanman,  and  his  old  friend 
Seaton,  it  was  his  wont  to  spend  many  hours  almost 


264  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

every  day  in  the  season,  in  the  enjoyment  of  field 
sports.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  getting  up  at  4 
o'clock  in  the  Summer  morning,  driving  out  to  George 
town,  then  taking  in  his  Secretary  and  fellow  sports 
man,  and,  after  passing  a  few  hours  angling  in  the 
Potomac,  near  the  upper  bridge,  returning  to  the 
Capitol,  and  presenting  himself  at  the  Department, 
ready  for  business,  at  10  o'clock. 

Hon.  J.  Prescott  Hall,  U.  S.  Attorney  for  this 
District  (himself  a  good  "VValtonian,)  in  announcing 
the  death  of  Mr.  Webster  to  the  Bar  of  New- York 
remarked :  u  I  have  partaken  of  his  innocent  and 
manly  amusements  ;  I  have  walked  with  him  alone  at 
twilight,  upon  the  shore  of  the  far-resounding  sea." 
His  success  at  sea-fishing  is  proverbial,  and  there  is 
scarcely  a  bay  or  an  inlet  within  a  day's  sail  or  ride 
of  Boston  or  Marshfield,  that  has  not  felt  his  line. 
Many  members  of  the  venerable  "  M.  C.  A."  can 
bear  testimony  to  his  success  in  this,  his  private 
amusement. 

Mr.  Webster  was  a  good  trout  killer,  and  de 
lighted  in  this  most  refined  of  all  the  modes, "  salientes 
calamo  aucere  pisces"  Apropos  of  this  fact,  we 
may  quote  a  playful  allusion  of  his  in  a  dinner  speech 
given  to  him  in  1851,  at  Syracuse,  in  this  State : 

"  It  so  happened,"  said  he,  "  that  all  the  public 
services  which  I  have  rendered,  in  my  day  and  gene 
ration,  have  been  connected  with  the  General  Govern 
ment.  I  think  I  ought  to  make  an  exception.  I 
was  ten  days  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legis 
lature,  and  I  turned  my  thoughts  to  the  search  for 
some  good  object,  in  which  I  could  be  useful,  in  that 


A    STAGE-COACH    ANECDOTE.  265 

position,  and  after  much  reflection.  I  introduced  a  bill 
which,  with  the  general  consent  of  both  houses,  passed 
into  a  law,  and  is  now  a  law  of  the  State,  which  enacts 
that  no  man  in  the  State  shall  catch  trout,  in  any 
other  manner  than  the  old  way,  with  an  ordinary 
hook  and  line." 


A   STAGE-COACH  ANECDOTE. 

Mr.  Webster  used  to  relate  this  as  no  one  but 
himself  could  do : 

A  few  years  since,  but  before  the  great  Northern 
Railroad  passed  through  his  farm,  Mr.  Webster  was 
on  his  way  to  the  old  homestead ;  he  took  the  stage 
at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  and  had  for  his  com 
panion  a  very  old  man.  After  some  conversation,  he 
ascertained  that  the  old  man  was  from  the  neighbor 
ing  town  of  Salisbury,  and  asked  him  if  he  ever  knew 
Captain  Webster.  "  Surely,  I  did,"  said  the  old 
man;  "and  the  Captain  was  a  brave  and  good  man, 
sir ;  and  nobly  did  he  fight  for  us,  with  General  Stark, 
at  Bennington."  "Did  he  leave  any  children?"  in 
quired  Mr.  Webster.  "  0,  yes  ;  there  was  Ezekiel, 
and  I  think,  Daniel."  "  And  what  has  become  of 
them?"  asked  Mr.  Webster.  "Why,  Ezekiel— and 
he  was  a  powerful  man,  sir :  I  have  heard  him  plead 
in  court  often.  Yes,  sir,  he  was  a  powerful  man,  and 
fell  dead  while  pleading  in  Concord."  "Well,"  said 
Mr.  Webster,  "  and  what  became  of  Daniel  ?"  "  Dan 
iel — Daniel,"  repeated  the  old  man  thoughtfully; 
"why,  Daniel,  I  believe,  is  a  lawyer  about  Boston 
somewhere." 

TOL.  II.  12 


206  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


ME,    WEBSTERS   RELIGIOUS   CONVICTIONS. 

A  writer  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser  remarks: 

Some  years  ago  we  had  the  pleasure  of  spending 
several  days  in  company  with  Mr.  Webster  at  the 
residence  of  a  mutual  friend,  Harvey  Ely,  Esq.,  at 
Rochester.  During  that  intercourse,  we  had  more 
than  one  opportunity  of  conversing  on  religious  sub 
jects — sometimes  on  doctrinal  points,  but  more  gen 
erally  on  the  importance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as 
containing  the  plan  of  man's  salvation,  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ.  So  far  as  our  knowledge  of  the 
subject  extends,  Mr.  "Webster  was  as  orthodox  as  any 
we  ever  conversed  with. 

On  one  occasion,  when  seated  in  the  drawing-room 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ely,  Mr.  Webster  laid  his  hand  on 
a  copy  of  the  Scriptures,  saying,  with  great  emphasis, 
"  This  is  the  book  !"  This  led  to  a  conversation  on  the 
importance  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  too  frequent 
neglect  of  the  study  of  the  Bible  by  gentlemen  of  the 
legal  profession,  their  pursuits  in  life  leading  them  to 
the  almost  exclusive  study  of  works  having  reference 
to  their  profession.  Mr.  Webster  said,  "  I  have  read 
through  the  entire  Bible  many  times.  I  now  make 
a  practice  to  go  through  it  once  a  year.  It  is  the 
book  of  all  others  for  lawyers  as  well  as  for  divines  ; 
and  I  pity  the  man  that  cannot  find  in  it  a  rich  sup 
ply  of  thought,  and  of  rules  for  his  conduct ;  it  fits 
man  for  life — it  prepares  him  for  death." 

The  conversation  then  turned  upon  sudden  deaths ; 
and  Mr.  Webster  adverted  to  the  then  recent  death 


RELIGIOUS    CONVICTION. TABLE    TALK.  267 

of  his  brother,  who  expired  suddenly  at  Concord, 
N.  II.  "  My  brother,"  he  continued,  "  knew  the  im 
portance  of  Bible  truths.  The  Bible  led  him  to 
prayer,  and  prayer  was  his  communion  with  God. 
On  the  day  on  which  he  died,  he  was  engaged  in  an 
important  cause  in  the  court  then  in  session.  But 
this  cause,  important  as  it  was,  did  not  keep  him  from 
his  duty  to  his  God ;  he  found  time  for  prayer,  for 
on  the  desk  which  he  had  just  left,  was  found  a  paper 
written  by  him  on  that  day,  which,  for  fervent  piety, 
a  devotedness*to  his  Heavenly  Master,  and  for  ex 
pressions  of. humility.  I  think  was  never  excelled." 

Mr.  Webster  then  mentioned  the  satisfaction  he 
had  derived  from  the  preaching  of  certain  clergymen, 
observing  that  "  men  were  so  constituted,  that  we 
could  not  all  expect  the  same  spiritual  benefit  under 
the  ministry  of  the  same  clergymen."  He  regretted 
that  there  was  not  more  harmony  of  feeling  among  pro 
fessors  generally,  who  believed  in  the  great  truths  of 
our  common  Christianity.  Difference  of  opinion,  he 
admitted,  was  proper ;  but  yet,  with  that  difference, 
the  main  objects  should  be  love  to  God — love  to  our 
fellow-creatures.  In  all  Mr.  Webster's  conversations 
he  maintained  true  catholicity  of  feeling. 


MR.    WEBSTER8    TABLE-TALK STORY    OF   THE   ROBBER. 

"  Mr.  Webster,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Boston  Atlas, 
"was  one  of  the  best  story-tellers  in  the  world.  He 
could  relate  an  anecdote  with  wonderful  effect,  and 
nothing  was  more  easy  than  for  him  to  '  set  the  table 


268  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

in  a  roar.'  His  fund  of  anecdote  and  of  personal  re 
miniscence  was  inexhaustible.  No  one  could  start  a 
subject  relating  to  history,  and  especially  to  American 
Congressional  life,  about  which  he  could  not  relate 
some  anecdote  connected  with  some  of  the  principal 
characters,  which,  when  told,  would  throw  additional 
light  upon  the  narrative,  and  illustrate  some  promi 
nent  trait  in  the  characters  of  the  persons  engaged  in 
the  transaction.  This  great  gift  he  possessed  in  a 
degree  unsurpassed.  Mr.  Webster's  'table-talk'  was 
fully  equal  to  any  of  his  more  elaborate  efforts  in  the 
Senate.  He  could  talk,  to  use  a  somewhat  misno- 
meric  expression,  as  well  as  he  could  speak.  He  had 
a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  loved  and  appre 
ciated  nice  touches  of  eccentric  humor.  We  have 
many  reminiscences  of  his  story-telling,  for,  when  at 
Washington,  we  often  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  at 
his  table.  On  these  occasions  it  was  the  purpose  of 
those  present  to  draw  him  out ;  and  to  do  this,  it  was 
but  necessary  to  start  some  topic  in  which  he  felt  an 
interest.  We  shall  never  forget  his  account  of  his 
visit  to  Jefferson,  at  Monticello,  his  analysis  of  the 
character  and  intellectual  attainments  of  Hamilton, 
who  he  thought  bore  a  closer  resemblance  to  the 
younger  Pitt  than  any  other  man  in  English  or  Amer 
ican  history,  and  his  anecdotes  of  Chief  Justice  Mar 
shall,  and  old  Mr.  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey ;  and  of 
his  ride  from  Baltimore  to  Washington  in  a  wagon, 
with  a  stout,  burly  fellow,  who  told  him  he  was  a 
robber." 

Another  journal,  the  Evening  Post,  supplies  this 
anecdote  of  the  robber  in  full : — 


HIS   DEVOTIONAL    SPIRIT.  269 


"  The  incident  to  which  the  Atla^  alludes,  we  be 
lieve  occurred  to  Mr.  Webster,  before  railroads  were 
built,  as  he  was  forced  one  night  to  make  a  journey 
by  private  conveyance  from  Baltimore  to  Washington. 
The  man  who  drove  the  wagon  was  such  an  ill-looking 
fellow,  and  told  so  many  stories  of  robberies  and 
murders  that,  before  they  had  gone  far,  Mr.  Webster 
was  almost  frightened  out  of  his  wits.  At  last  the 
wagon  stopped,  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  wood,  when 
the  man,  turning  suddenly  round  to  his  passenger, 
exclaimed  fiercely,  ' Now,  sir,  tell  me  who  you  are?' 
Mr.  Webster  replied,  in  a  faltering  voice,  and  ready 
to  spring  from  the  vehicle,  '  I  am  Daniel  Webster, 
member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts !"  '  What,' 
rejoined  the  driver,  grasping  him  warmly  by  the  hand, 
'  are  you  Webster  1  Thank  God !  thank  God  !  You 
were  such  a  deuced  ugly  chap,  that  I  took  you  for 
some  cut-throat  or  highwayman.'  This  is  'the  sub 
stance  of  the  story,  but  the  precise  words  used  by 
Mr.  Webster  himself,  in  repeating  it,  we  cannot 
recall." 


MR.  WEBSTER'S  DEVOTIONAL  SPIRIT. 

It  was  our  fortune,  writes  the  editor  of  the  Bos 
ton  Atlas,  to  pass  several  days  at  his  home  in  Marsh- 
field,  some  six  or  seven  years  ago ;  and  well  we  re 
member  one  beautiful  night,  when  the  heavens  seemed 
to  be  studded  with  countless  myriads  of  stars,  that, 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  walked  out,  and 
he  stood  beneath  the  beautiful  weeping  elm  which 


270  MEMORIALS    OF   DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

raises  its  majestic  form  within  a  few  paces  of  his 
dwelling,  and,  looking  up  through  the  leafy  branches, 
he  appeared  for  several  minutes  to  be  wrapped  in 
deep  thought,  and,  at  length,  as  if  the  scene,  so  soft 
and  so  beautiful,  had  suggested  the  lines,  he  quoted 
certain  verses  of  the  eighth  Psalm,  beginning  with 
the  words :  "  When  I  consider  thy  heavens,  the  work 
of  thy  fingers ;  the  moon  and  the  stars,  which  thou 
hast  ordained;  what  is  man,  that  thou  are  mindful  of 
him  ?  and  the  son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him  ? 
For  thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  an 
gels,  and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor," 
&c.  The  deep,  low  tone  in  which  he  repeated  these 
inspired  words,  and  the  deep,  rapt  attention  with 
which  he  gazed  up  through  the  branches  of  the  elm, 
struck  us  with  a  feeling  of  greater  awe  and  solemnity 
than  we  ever  felt,  when,  a  year  or  two  later,  we  visit 
ed  some  of  the  most  magnificent  cathedrals  of  the 
Old  \Vorld,  venerable  with  the  ivy  of  centuries,  and 
mellowed  with  the  glories  of  a  daily  church  service 
for  a  thousand  years. 

We  remained  out  beneath  the  tree  for  an  hour, 
and  all  the  time  he  conversed  about  the  Scriptures, 
which  no  man  has  studied  with  greater  attention,  and 
of  which  no  man  whom  we  ever  saw  knew  so  much, 
or  appeared  to  understand  and  appreciate  so  well. 
He  talked  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  espe 
cially,  and  dwelt  with  unaffected  pleasure  upon 
Isaiah,  the  Psalms,  and  especially  the  Book  of  Job. 
The  Book  of  Job,  he  said,  taken  as  a  mere  work  of 
literary  genius,  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful  pro 
ductions  of  any  age,  or  in  any  language.  As  an  epic 


HIS    DEVOTIONAL    SPIRIT.  27 1 

poem,  he  deemed  it  far  superior  to  either  the  Iliad 
or  Odyssey.  The  two  last,  he  said,  received  much  of 
their  attraction  from  the  mere  narration  of  warlike 
deeds,  and  from  the  perilous  escape  of  the  chief  per 
sonages  from  death  and  slaughter ;  but  the  Book  of 
Job  was  a  purely  intellectual  narrative.  Its  power 
was  shown  in  the  dialogue  of  the  characters  intro 
duced.  The  story  was  simple  in  its  construction,  and 
there  was  little  in  it  to  excite  the  imagination  or 
arouse  the  sympathy.  It  was  purely  an  intellectual 
production,  and  depended  upon  the  power  of  the  dia 
logue,  and  not  upon  the  interest  of  the  story,  to  pro 
duce  its  eifects.  This  was  considering  it  merely  as 
an  intellectual  work.  He  read  it  through  very  often, 
and  always  with  renewed  delight.  In  his  judgment, 
it  was  the  greatest  epic  ever  written. 

We  well  remember  his  quotation  of  some  of  the 
verses  in  the  thirty-eighth  chapter : — "  Then  the 
Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and  said, 
Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge  ?  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  ;  for 
£  will  demand  of  thee,  and  answer  thou  me.  Where 
wast  thou,  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ? 
Declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding,"  &c.  Mr. 
Webster  was  a  fine  reader,  and  his  recitation  of  par 
ticular  passages,  to  which  he  felt  warm,  were  never 
surpassed ;  and  were  capable  of  giving  the  most  ex 
quisite  delight  to  those  who  could  appreciate  them. 


272  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


TWENTY-FOURTH    OF   OCTOBER,    1852.       BY   T.    W.    PARSONS,    JUN. 

Comes  there  a  frigate  home  ?  What  mighty  bark 
Keturns  with  torn,  but  still  triumphant  sails  ? 

Such  peals  awake  the  wondering  Sabbath:  hark ! 
How  the  dread  echoes  die  among  the  vales. 

What  ails  the  morning,  that  the  misty  sun 

Looks  wan  and  troubled  in  the  autumn  air, 
Dark  over  Marshfield  ?    'Twas  the  minute  gun  : 

God  !  has  it  come  that  we  foreboded  there  ? 
& 
The  woods  at  midnight  heard  an  angel's  tread, 

The  sere  leaves  rustled  in  his  withering  breath  ; 
The  night  was  beautiful  with  stars  :  we  said, 

"This  is  the  harvest  moon."    'Twas  thine,  0  Death. 

Gone,  then,  the  splendor  of  October's  day  ! 

A  single  night,  without  the  aid  of  frost, 
Has  turned  the  gold  and  crimson  into  gray, 

And  the  year's  glory  with  the  world's  is  lost. 

A  little  while,  and  we  rode  forth  to  greet 
His  coming  with  glad  music  ;  and  his  eye 

Drew  many  captives,  as  along  the  street 
His  peaceful  triumph  passed,  unquestioned  by. 

Now  there  are  meanings  by  the  desolate  shore, 

That  are  not  ocean's.    By  the  patriot's  bed 
Hearts  throb  for  him  whoso  noble  heart  no  more- 
Break  off  the  rhyme  ;  for  sorrow  cannot  stop 

To  trim  itself  with  phrases  for  the  ear. 
Too  fast  the  tears  upon  the  paper  drop  ; 

Fast  as  the  leaves  are  falling  on  his  bier ; 

Thick  as  the  hopes  that  clustered  round  his  name, 
While  yet  he  walked  with  us,  a  pilgrim  here. 

He  was  our  prophet — our  majestic  oak, 

That  like  Dodona's,  in  Thesprotian  land, 
Whose  leaves  were  oracles,  divinely  spoke. 


TWENTY'FQURTH    OF    OCTOBER,  1852.  273 

He  was  our  Daniel.    'Mid  the  roar  of  men, 

He  in  the  stormy  senate  stood  serene, 
Like  his  great  namesake  in  the  lion's  den. 

"W'e  called  him  giant,  for  in  every  part 

He  seemed  colossal ;  in  his  port  and  speech, 
In  his  large  brain,  and  in  his  larger  heart. 

And  when  upon  the  roll  his  name  we  saw, 

Of  those  who  govern,  then  we  felt  secure  ; 
Because  we  knew  his  reverence  for  the  law. 

So  the  young  master  of  the  Eoman  realm 

Discreetly  thought,  we  cannot  go  astray, 
Not  far  astray,  with  Ulpian  at  the  helm. 

But  slowly  to  this  loss  our  sense  awakes, 

To  know  what  space  it  in  the  forum  filled: 
See  what  a  gap  the  temple's  ruin  makes ! 

Kings  have  their  dynasties,  but  not  the  mind ; 

Csesar  leaves  other  Coesars  to  succeed; 
But  wisdom,  dying,  leaves  no  heir  behind. 

Who  now  shall  stand  the  regent  at  the  wheel  ? 

Who  knows  the  dread  machinery  ?    Who  hath  skill 
Our  course  through  oceans  unsurveyed  to  feel? 

Her  mournful  tidings  Albion  lately  sent 
How  he,  the  victor  in  so  many  fields, 
Fell,  without  fighting,  in  the  fields  of  Kent ; 

The  chief  whose  conduct  in  the  lofty  scene 

Where  England  stood  up  for  the  world  in  arms, 
Gave  her  victorious  name  to  England's  queen. 

But  peaceful  Britain  knows,  amid  her  grief, 

She  could  well  spare  the  soldier  and  his  sword : 
What  can  OUR  councils  do  without  OUR  chief? 

Blest  are  the  peace-makers  !  and  he  was  ours, 

Winning,  by  force  of  argument,  the  right 
For  kindred,  rather  than  for  rival  powers. 
TOL.  n.         12* 


274  MEMORIALS  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Let  us  be  thankful,  if  we  kept  aloof 

From  their  calumnious  ranks  who  slandered  him, 
Putting  his  fineness  to  their  venom's  proof. 

It  hurt  him  not ;  for,  if  his  gold  contained 

Some  specks  of  earth,  it  was  not  such  as  theirs, 
But  only  human  crystal  that  remained. 

The  richest  stones,  the  most  refined  and  pure, 

Most  need  the  lapidary's  wisest  hand. 
Man,  without  error,  make  thy  cutting  sure  1 

The  autumn  rains  are  falling  on  his  head ; 

The  snows  of  winter  soon  shall  be  his  shroud  ; 
And  spring  with  violets  will  adorn  his  bed ; 

And  summer  shall  be  joyful  on  the  shore 

Where  he  is  sleeping :  but  the  breath  of  spring, 
Or  summer  sunshine  will  not  wake  him  more. 

Resume  the  rhyme,  and  end  the  funeral  strain. 

Dying  he  asked  for  song ;  he  did  not  slight 
The  harmony  of  numbers  ;  let  the  main 

Sing  round  his  grave  great  anthems  day  and  night; 

Not  with  vain  hope  to  hang  upon  his  hearse 

A  little,  selfish  trophy  of  our  own, 
"We  give  to  grief  this  tributary  verse, 

But  simply  to  record  the  nation's  moan. 

We  have  no  high  cathedral  for  his  rest, 
Dim  with  proud  banners  and  the  dust  of  years: 

All  we  can  give  him  is  New  England's  breast 
To  lay  his  head  on,  and  ten  thousand  tears. 


HIS    LAST    HOURS.  2*75 


DANIEL  WEBSTER'S  LAST  HOURS. 

The  telegraphic  reports  present  the  most  vivid 
narrative  of  these  closing  incidents,  and  may  preserve 
for  other  generations  something  of  that  feeling  of 
interest  and  anxiety  with  which  the  United  States  of 
1852,  hour  by  hour,  listened  to  this  dying  intelli 
gence. 

BOSTON,  October,  23. 

A  messenger  left  Marshfield  at  6J-  o'clock  this 
morning.  Mr.  Webster  passed  the  night  quietly  ; 
sleeping  at  times.  He  was  not  quite  so  well  this 
morning,  and  is  slowly  sinking. 

MARSHFIELD,  Saturday,  October  28 — 7  P.  M. 

Mr.  Webster's  physicians  have  given  out  the  fol 
lowing  bulletin : — 

"  Mr.  Webster  has  failed  during  the  night,  and 
is  quite  low  and  exhausted  this  morning. 

BOSTON,  12  J  P.M. 

A  messenger  just  arrived  from  Marshfield  informs 
the  Courier  that  Mr.  Webster,  in  the  opinion  of  his 
physicians,  cannot  live  an  hour. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  state  of  Mr. 
Webster  during  the  night : 

At  11  o'clock  he  was  again  seized  with  vomitings, 
though  at  the  time  they  were  slight.  Between  one 
and  two  o'clock  this  morning  he  was  again  attacked, 
and  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  suffered  terribly. 
From  that  time  to  the  date  of  our  writing  this,  half- 


276  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

past  eight  o'clock,  he  remained  free  from  pain,  and  in 
a  placid  state.  His  mind  is  still  as  clear  and  bright 
as  the  sun  now  rising. 

During  all  the  time  for  ten  hours  past,  when  he 
was  free  from  pain,  he  conversed  cheerfully  with  the 
friends  around  his  bedside,  and  more  than  once  play 
fully  reproached  his  faithful  nurse,  Sarah,  for  not  re 
tiring  to  bed. 

Mr.  Webster  is  fully  conscious  of  his  condition, 
as  is  evidenced  from  the  fond  consolations  he  is  con 
stantly  addressing  to  his  mourning  family  and  friends. 

Occasionally,  in  the  presence  of  those  not  his  re 
latives,  he  speaks  on  public  matters  with  a  calmness 
and  interest  which  clearly  show  that  the  welfare  of 
his  country  is  as  present  and  dear  to  him  as  ever. 

The  illustrious  invalid  is  now  asleep,  but  fears  of 
further  terrible  suffering  on  his  part  are  entertained 
by  his  friends  should  he  be  again  seized  with  vomit 
ing  on  waking. 

MARSHFLELD,  12  M,,  Saturday. 

Mr.  "Webster  still  continues  to  sink.  Shortly  af 
ter  6  o'clock  this  morning  he  had  further  attacks  of 
vomiting,  which  are  gradually  wearing  away  his 
strength.  He  may  live  through  the  day,  but  it  is. 
thought  cannot  survive  through  the  night  Messages 
have  just  been  dispatched  for  Dr.  J.  M.  Warren,  of 
Boston,  requesting  him  to  come  down  in  the  after 
noon  train.  Just  as  this  express  starts,  the  following, 
from  his  physician,  has  been  put  into  my  hands : — 

"MARSIIFIELD,  12  M. 

c{  Mr.  Webster  is  gradually  sinking;  it  is  thought 


HIS    LAST    HOURS.  277 


he  will  not  survive  more  than  twenty-four  hours,  if 
so  long.  His  frame  of  mind  is  that  of  entire  tran 
quillity  and  happiness.  He  attends  to  all  necessary 
business,  and  his  mind  maintains  its  usual  attention 
to  all  subjects  and  persons." 

MAKSHFIELD,  2  P.M. 

Mr.  "Webster  continues  to  sink.  His  mental  fa 
culties  seem  unclouded  and  brilliant  as  ever.  He 
occasionally  speaks  to  his  family,  contemplates  death 
calmly,  and  is  perfectly  resigned.  His  physicians 
think  he  will  expire  during  the  night. 

BOSTON,  Oct.  24th,  2  A.M. 

An  express  messenger  has  just  arrived,  having 
left  Marshfield  at  1 0  o'clock  last  night,  at  which  time 
Mr.  Webster  was  not  expected  to  survive  more  than 
an  hour. 

Dr.  James  Jackson  left  the  patient  at  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  afternoon  there  was 
some  decrease  in  the  swelling  of  Mr.  Webster's  ab 
domen,  and  fewer  symptoms  of  nausea,  but  there 
were  no  signs  of  rallying. 

Repeatedly  in  the  course  of  the  forenoon,  and  in 
the  early  part  of  the  afternoon,  he  conversed  freely, 
and  with  great  coolness  of  detail,  in  relation  to  his 
private  affairs  and  the  condition  of  his  farms,  stating 
his  plans  fully,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  wished 
to  have  them  carried  out. 

About  half-past  five  o'clock,  Mr.  Webster  was 
again  seized  with  a  violent  nausea,  and  raised  con- 


276  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

siderable  dark  matter,  tinged  with  blood.  Exhaus 
tion  now  increased  rapidly,  and  his  physicians  held 
another  consultation,  which  resulted  in  a  conclusion 
that  his  last  hour  was  fast  approaching. 

He  received  the  announcement,  and  requested 
that  the  female  members  of  his  family  might  be 
called  in ;  viz.,  Mrs.  Webster,  Mrs.  Fletcher  Webster, 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Paige,  and  Miss  Downs,  of  New -York. 
To  each,  calling  them  individually  by  name,  he  ad 
dressed  a  few  words  of  farewell  and  religious  conso 
lation. 

Next  he  had  called  in  the  male  members  of  his 
family,  and  the  personal  friends  who  have  been  here 
within  the  last  few  days,  viz.,  Fletcher  Webster  (his 
only  surviving  son),  Samuel  A.  Appleton  (his  son-in- 
law),  J.  W.  Paige,  George  T.  Curtis,  Edward  Curtis, 
of  New- York,  Peter  Harvey  and  Charles  Henry  Tho 
mas,  of  Marshfield,  and  Messrs.  George  J.  Abbott 
and  W.  C.  Zantzinger,  both  of  the  State  Department 
at  Washington.  Addressing  each  by  name,  he  re 
ferred  to  his  past  relations  with  them  respectively, 
and,  one  by  one,  bade  them  an  affectionate  farewell. 
This  was  about  half-past  six. 

He  now  had  Mr.  Peter  Harvey  called  in  again, 
and  said  to  him — "  Harvey,  I  am  not  so  sick  but  that 
I  know  you — I  am  well  enough  to  know  you.  I  am 
well  enough  to  love  you,  and  well  enough  to  call  down 
the  richest  of  Heaven's  blessings  upon  you  and  yours. 
Harvey,  don't  leave  me  till  1  am  dead — don't  leave 
Marshfield  till  I  am  a  dead  man."  Then,  as  if 
speaking  to  himself,  he  said — "  On  the  24th  of  Oo- 


DEATH.  279 


tober,  all  that  is  mortal  of  Daniel  Webster  will  bo 
no  more." 

He  now  prayed  in  his  natural  usual  voice — strong, 
full  and  clear,  ending  with  "  Heavenly  Father,  for 
give  my  sins,  and  receive  me  to  thyself,  through  Christ 
Jesus." 

At  half-past  seven  o'clock  Dr.  J.  M.  Warren  ar 
rived  from  Boston,  to  relieve  Dr.  Jeffries  as  the  im 
mediate  medical  attendant. 

Shortly  after  he  conversed  with  Dr.  Jeffries,  who 
said  he  could  do  nothing  more  for  him  than  to  ad 
minister  occasionally  a  sedative  potion.  "  Then," 
said  Mr.  Webster,  "  I  am  to  lie  patiently  to  the  end ; 
if  it  be  so.  may  it  come  soon." 

At  10  o'clock  he  was  still  lower,  but  perfectly 
conscious  of  everything  that  passed  within  his  sight 
or  hearing. 

BOSTON,  October  24,  1852—9  A.M. 

Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State,  died  at 
his  mansion  at  Marshfield,  twenty-two  minutes  before 
three  o'clock  this  morning.  His  last  hour  was  en 
tirely  calm,  and  he  breathed  his  last  so  peacefully, 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  precise  moment  of  his 
departure  was  perceived. 


DEATH. 

The  Boston  Courier  contained  the  following  par 
ticulars  relative  to  Mr.  Webster's  death  and  burial : 
The  last  hours  of  one  so  beloved  as  he  whose 


280  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

earthly  career  has  just  closed  ainid  so  many  circum 
stances  of  consolation,  were  of  the  same  even  tenor 
as  all  the  rest.  The  public  are  already  informed  of 
the  chief  features  of  that  deeply  interesting  scene  up 
to  the  period  when  Mr.  Webster  desired  to  take 
leave  of  all  who  were  in  the  house.  One  by  one,  in 
deep  sorrow,  but  sustained  by  his  own  great  example, 
the  members  of  his  family,  and  the  friends  and  at 
tendants,  came  in  and  took  leave  of  him.  He  desired 
them  to  remain  near  his  room,  and  more  than  once 
enjoined  on  those  present  who  were  not  of  his  imme 
diate  family,  not  to  leave  Marshfield  till  his  death 
had  taken  place.  Reassured  by  all  that  his  every 
wish  would  be  religiously  regarded,  he  then  addressed 
himself  to  his  physicians,  making  minute  inquiries  as 
to  his  own  condition,  and  the  probable  termination 
of  his  life.  Conversing  with  great  exactness,  he 
seemed  to  be  anxious  to  be  able  to  mark  to  himself 
the  final  period  of  his  dissolution.  He  was  answered, 
that  it  might  occur  in  one,  two,  or  three  hours,  but 
that  the  time  could  not  be  definitely  calculated. 
"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Webster,  "  I  suppose  I  must  lie 
here  quietly  till  it  comes."  The  retching  and  vomit 
ing  now  recurred.  Dr.  Jeffries  offered  to  Mr.  Web 
ster  something  which  he  hoped  might  give  him  ease. 
"  Something  more,  Doctor,  more — I  want  restora 
tion." 

Between  10  and  11  o'clock,  he  repeated  somewhat 
indistinctly  the  words  "Poet,  poetry,  Gray,  Gray." 
Mr.  Fletcher  Webster  repeated  the  first  line  of  the 
elegy,— 

"  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day." 


THE    MEN    OF    THE    COMMONWEALTH.  281 

"  That's  it,  that's  it,"  said  Mr.  Webster,  and  the 
book  was  brought,  and  some  stanzas  read  to  him, 
which  seemed  to  give  him  pleasure. 

From  12  o'clock  till  2,  there  was  much  restless 
ness,  but  not  much  suffering.  The  physicians  were 
quite  confident  that  there  was  no  actual  pain.  A 
faintness  occurred,  which  led  him  to  think  that  his 
death  was  at  hand.  While  in  this  condition,  some 
expressions  fell  from  him,  indicating  the  hope  that 
his  mind  would  remain  to  him  completely  until  the 
last.  He  spoke  of  the  process  of  the  difficulty  of 
dying,  when  Dr.  Jeffries  repeated  the  verse, — 

"  Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me ; 
Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 

Mr.  Webster  said  immediately,  "  The  fact,  the 
fact.  That  is  what  I  want— Thy  rod,  Thy  rod— Thy 
staff,  Thy  staff." 

His  dying  words  were,  «  I  STILL  LIVE." 


THE   MEN   OF   THE   COMMONWEALTH. 

At  a  dinnerparty  in  Boston, Dr.  Charles  narrates 
in  his  Funeral  Discourse,  at  Newport,  on  Webster : 

Mr.  Webster  stated  that  he  had  been  reading 
"  Burton's  Diary,"  and  that  it  was  a  mine  of  great 
value.  "  There  you  get  the  true  calibre  of  the 
Roundheads;  their  speeches  in  Parliament  were 
really  wonderful  productions,  and  I  am  satisfied  that 
their  discussions  about  religion,  were  mainly  in  view 


282  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

of  the  great  civil  consequences  involved.  The  men 
of  that  day  were  richly  furnished  ;  look  at  Cowley, 
Evelyn,  and  Clarendon,  on  one  side,  and  Elliot,  Syd 
ney,  Milton,  Harrington,  and  Marvel  on  the  other. 
These  men  all  breathed  in  gardens,  and  kept  up  their 
humanity  by  meditations  amidst  the  tranquillity  of 
nature.  Cromwell  and  Hampden  were  the  men. 
Cromwell  was  a  statesman  every  inch.  Hampden  is 
a  man  of  whom  I  want  to  know  more  than  Lord 
Nugent  has  told  us  ;  I  want  to  know  how  he  talked 
and  lived  every  day  down  in  the  country.  A  proper 
history  or  biography  is  the  story  of  a  life ;  mere 
public  facts  do  not  make  a  biography.  I  want  to 
know  not  only  what  a  man  did,  but  the  way  in  which 
he  did  it,  when  it  sprang  up  in  his  heart  to  do  it.  I 
want  to  know  all  about  the  days  of  adversity  or  sun 
shine  in  which  he  was  schooled,  I  want  to  know  about 
the  boy  as  well  as  the  man.  Facts,  naked  facts,  are 
not  history,  they  are  but  the  oil  and  brushes ;  and 
when  you  have  them,  an  artist  must  come  along  to 
work  you  up  an  historical  picture." 


A    CONVERSATION    ON    ENGLAND. 

I  think,  says  Dr.  Charles,  in  the  Discourse  just 
quoted,  the  sentiments  embodied  in  a  conversation 
which  I  had  with  Mr.  Webster,  at  Washington,  pre 
vious  to  my  visit  to  Europe  in  1851,  are  worthy  of 
record.  "  Well,  sir,  I  notice  from  your  letter  for 
Passports,  that  you  take  three  of  your  pupils.  I  am 
glad  that  they  are  going.  You  will  teach  them  things 


A    CONVERSATION    ON    ENGLAND.  283 

abro.ad   which  will    be    useful   to   them   when   they 
return.     Show  them  the  great  farms,  the  noble  stock, 
let  them  see  the  rural  life  of  England,  and  learn  to 
love  it.     We  want  to  have  more  love  for  the  country. 
We  want  more  beauty  thrown  around  our  houses,  and 
the  lads  will  come  home  with  better  taste.     Try  to 
cultivate  their  memories  as  to  the  localities  of  Eng 
land.     Let  them  never  forget  the  places  sacred  to 
liberty.     The  Tower  is  a  perfect  study,  it   requires 
thought,  it  is  no  place  to  be  dispatched  in  a  hurried 
visit.     It  is  history,  sir.      Westminster  Abbey  is  a 
wonderful  place,  not  only  for  what  it  is,  but  for  what 
it  is  not.      Srnithfield,  too,  is  full  of  glory.     If  ever 
Jacob's  ladder  rested  upon  earth,  it  was  there,  where 
bloody  Mary  made  it  the  gate  to  heaven  for  so  many 
martyrs.     Bunhill  Fields  ;  I  was  too  good  a  Puritan 
not  to  go  there.     I  wanted  to   stand  where  Bunyan, 
Owen,  Goodwin  and  Defoe  were  buried.     I  should 
like  to    stand  at  the  graves  of  all  the  great  men  of 
England.     This  journey  will  do  the  lads  great  good  ; 
it  will  furnish  them  matter  for  thought  in  future  life, 
and  if  they  improve  this  opportunity,  it  will  teach 
them  what  few  so  understand,  how  to  grow  old  de 
cently.     An  ignorant,  uncultivated  old  man  is  a  poor 
affair ;  the  tailor   can  pad  out  his  wasted  form,  but 
nothing  except  early  acquirements  and  good  senti 
ments  can  make  fine    old  age.      You  will  see  'the 
Duke,'  sir,  he  is  the  most  remarkable  man  in  the 
country;  so  practical,  such  sterling  sense,   so  self- 
reliant  ;  a  man  is  nothing,  nothing,  who  does  not  de 
pend  upon  himself.      I    shall   give  you  letters,  sir, 
addressed  to  men  I  value  highly,  who  are  ornaments 


MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

to  our  nature.  Pray  make  the  lads  notice  the  atten 
tion  paid  in  England  to  age  and  position ;  nowhere 
can  the  proprieties  of  life  be  learned  so  well.  What 
a  destiny  lies  before  these  two  countries,  England  and 
the  United  States;  the  same  language,  laws,  and 
religion.  Did  you  ever  think  of  the  wonderful  con 
cealment  of  America  from  Europe,  till  'the  set  time' 
had  arrived  for  its  revelation  ?" 


MB.  WEBSTER'S  BRIEFS. 


IN  the  biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  Webster,  with  which 
these  volumes  open,  brief  reference  is  made  to  the  degree 
and  method  of  Mr.  Webster's  preparation  for  his  public 
speeches.    The  impression  has  been  current  that  his  groat 
speeches  wore  quite  unstudied;  and  several  of  his  bio 
graphers,  including  Mr.  Everett,  have  taken  no  incon 
siderable  pains  to  create  the  belief  that  his  Reply  to 
Hayne  was  in  the  main  an  extempore  performance.     Ah1 
such  representations  seem  to  us  not  simply  without  foun 
dation,  but  likely  to  be  productive  of  mischievous  influ 
ence  upon  the  minds  of  students,  with  whom  the  example 
of  so  consummate  a  master  as  Mr.  Webster  cannot  fail  to 
be  more  weighty  than  the  lessons  of  all  the  schools.    Mr. 
Webster  was  always  a  laborious  student,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  his  professional  and  public  career,  he  expended 
upon  all  his  public  addresses  the  utmost  care.     He  hap 
pened  to  be  dining  with  a  company  of  friends  a  few  years 
since,  when  the  first  message  of  an  eminent  public  man, 
then  Governor  of  the  State  of  New-York,  was  issued  and 
became  the  subject  of  conversation.      "  Governor  W— 
said  Mr.  Webster,  on  being  appealed  to  for  his  opinion, 
"  is  a  very  able  man  and  a  very  able  writer :— the  only 
thing  he  needs  to  learn  is  how  to  scratch  out."    A  Sena 
tor  of  the  United  States  present  expressed  some  surprise 
at  this  remark,  and  said  that  no  one  who  read  Mr.  Web 
ster's  addresses,  or  listened  to  his  speeches,  would  suppose 


286  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

that  he  ever  had  occasion  to  alter  or  amend  any  thing 
that  came  from  his  pen.  "  However  that  may  be  now," 
replied  Mr.  Webster,  "  a  very  large  part  of  my  life  has 
been  spent  in  '  scratching  out ;'  when  I  was  a  young  man, 
and  for  some  years  after  I  had  acquired  a  respectable 
degree  of  eminence  in  my  profession,  my  style  was  bom 
bastic  and  pompous  in  the  extreme.  Some  kind  friend 
was  good  enough  to  point  out  that  fact  to  me,  and  I  de 
termined  to  correct  it,  if  labor  could  do  it.  "Whether  it 
has  been  corrected  or  not,  no  small  part  of  my  life  has 
been  spent  in  the  attempt."  This  careful  preparation  to 
which  Mr.  Webster  thus  resorted  in  early  life,  from  a  con 
viction  of  its  necessity,  soon  became  a  fixed  habit,  and 
was  never  abandoned.  He  seldom  made  a  public  speech, 
however  temporary  the  interest  of  the  occasion  might 
seem,  which  he  had  not  previously  studied  with  laborious 
care.  Sometimes  he  wrote  it  out,  very  fully;  but  his 
usual  method  was  to  prepare  a  careful  and  complete  outline 
of  the  argument  he  wished  to  present,  and  to  write  out  in 
the  exact  language  he  wished  to  use  any  portions  which 
he  desired  to  make  especially  forcible  or  impressive. 
Under  the  excitement  of  speaking  he  would  often  vary 
the  phraseology  of  such  passages, — infusing  into  them 
more  energy  and  life  than  his  pen  had  given  them  origi 
nally,  and  adapting  them  oftentimes  to  incidents  that  were 
passing  before  him.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  character 
of  the  preparation  he  had  made  for  his  Reply  to  Hayne. 
Although  he  rose  to  speak  as  soon  as  Hayne  sat  down, 
the  whole  subject  had  been  under  discussion  in  the  Senato 
for  weeks,  and  nearly  every  point  made  by  Col.  Hayne 
had  been  previously  presented  by  Col.  Benton  or  some 
of  the  others  who  had  participated  in  the  debate  upon 
the  same  side.  Mr.  Webster  had  been  preparing  to  take 
part  in  the  discussion  from  the  beginning.  The  question 
of  constitutional  power  involved  had  been  his  special 


HIS    BRIEFS. 


287 


study  for  years,  and  upon  that  branch  of  the  subject  he 
had  little  more  to  do  than  to  present  the  conclusions  he 
had  formed,  and  the  process  of  argument  by  which  he 
had  reached  them.  The  personal  attacks  of  Col.  Hayne 
were  made  mainly  in  the  opening  part  of  his  speech, 
which  was  made  on  Thursday, — the  remainder  being  ad 
journed  over  to  the  succeeding  Monday;  so  that  upon 
these  points  Mr.  Webster  had  time  to  elaborate  the  un 
rivalled  retorts  by  which  they  were  repelled.  And  the 
declamatory  passages, — those  sentences  of  fervid  elo 
quence,  unsurpassed  in  our  language  for  their  stately, 
dignified,  and  impassioned  rhetoric,— had  been  framed 
laboriously  in  the  forge  of  his  creative  intellect,  while 
studying  the  speech  he  intended  to  make  upon  the  gen 
eral  topic.  Mr.  Everett  in  his  life  of  Mr.  Webster  affects 
to  sneer  at  the  intimation  that  he  could  thus  utter  pathos, 
indignation,  and  patriotism,  a  week  old;  but  the  sneer 
will  scarcely  alter  the  fact,  nor  does  the  fact  in  the  least 
degree  derogate  from  the  intellectual  and  oratorical  su 
premacy  of  Mr.  Webster.  On  the  contrary,  it  simply 
shows  that  he  belonged  to  that  race  of  Orators  of  which 
Demosthenes,  Burke,  Massillon,  Choate,  and  Everett  him 
self  are  the  great  exemplars,  and  that  he,  too,  resort 
ed  to  the  same  methods  of  intellectual  labor,  by  which 
they  have  commanded  the  admiration  and  applause  of 
successive  generations  of  the  race. 

No  study  could  be  more  interesting  and  instructive 
than  that  of  the  process  of  a  great  mind,  like  Mr.  Web 
ster's,  in  the  construction  of  a  great  speech.  The  writer 
of  this  note  happens  to  be  in  possession  of  material  that 
could  not  fail  to  be  useful  in  such  a  study,  much  of  which, 
however,  cannot  here  be  used.  He  chanced  to  be  at 
Washington  in  the  winter  of  1848,  and  hearing  that  Mr. 
Webster  was  to  argue  a  legal  case  in  the  Supreme  Court 
he  very  naturally  went  to  hear  him.  It  proved  to  be  a 


288  •    MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

case  growing  out  of  the  famous  Dorr  rebellion  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  involved  the  legal  merits  of  that  proceeding. 
Mr.  Webster  came  up  to  the  bench  on  which  he  had  taken 
his  seat,  and  after  some  general  conversation  spoke  of  the 
interest  and  importance  of  the  case,  and  expressed  a  wish 
that  he  would  prepare  a  report  of  the  argument  he  in 
tended  to  make.  Knowing  nothing  whatever  of  the  short 
hand  art, — but  being  fond  of  reporting  Mr.  Webster  as  a 
valuable  method  of  critically  studying  his  style,  and  hav 
ing  succeeded  on  former  occasions  in  satisfying  Mr.  Web 
ster's  taste  in  the  reports  of  his  speeches, — and  no  man 
was  ever  more  fastidious, — he  readily  acceded  to  the  re 
quest,  took  notes,  wrote  out  the  speech,  and  early  the  next 
morning  read  it  over  to  Mr.  Webster  in  his  private  study. 
Mr.  Webster  made  very  few  alterations  in  the  language, 
and  none  at  all  in  the  structure  of  the  sentences:  but 
each  was  examined  and  discussed  with  the  most  careful 
criticism,  and  the  fitness  and  import  of  every  word  were 
weighed  with  as  deliberate  labor  as  any  University  student 
ever  expended  upon  his  theme.  In  two  or  three  cases 
the  reporter  had  substituted  a  word  for  the  one  which 
Mr.  Webster  had  chanced  to  use, — hither  for  here,  in  one 
instance,  which  is  specially  recollected.  Not  one  such 
case  escaped  Mr.  Webster's  notice ;  he  detected  the  va 
riation  instantly,  and  at  once  began  to  consider  which  was 
the  best.  Quotations  were  verified,  punctuation  care 
fully  done,  and  the  literary  character  of  the  speech  was 
quite  as  critically  attended  to  as  its  legal  argument  had 
been.  And  this  was  merely  one  of  his  professional 
performances, — an  argument  in  Court  upon  a  legal  ques 
tion. 

After  the  revision  of  the  speech  had  been  finished  the 
writer  asked,  and  promptly  received,  permission  to  retain 
the  brief  from  which  Mr.  Webster  had  spoken : — and  it  is 
now  appended  to  this  notice,  as  a  curious  and  valuable 


HIS    BRIEFS.  289 


guide  in  studying  the  process  by  which  Mr.  Webster  pre 
pared  his  addresses.  The  speech  itself  will  be  found  in 
Vol.  V.  of  the  Writings  of  Mr.  Webster,  edited  by  Mr.  Ev 
erett, — where  it  makes  scarcely  twice  as  much,  in  its  com 
plete  form,  as  in  this  outline  of  notes  which  he  used  in 
speaking : — his  abbreviations  and  marks  are  retained  sc 
far  as  possible. 

PRELIMINARY. 

There  is  something  novel  and  extraordinary,  in  Judi 
cial  proceedings,  in  the  aspect  of  this  cause. 

In  '41  and  '42  agitation  existed  in  R.  I. — conflicting 
parties  were  formed — each  party  claimed  the  au 
thority  of  Gov't — resort  was  had  '  to  arms' — force 
was  used — and  it  seemed  at  one  moment,  that  the 
parties  were  on  the  "  perilous  edge  of  battle."  In 
June  and  July  '42  the  tumult  subsided,  without 
bloodshed.  Gov't  resumed  its  ordinary  course,  and 
the  State  its  accustomed  quiet. 

But  past  disturbances  were  to  be  looked  into — Grand 
Juries  found  Bills.  Among  the  rest  an  Indictment 
was  found  v.  Mr.  Dorr,  who  had  asserted  a  claim 
to  be  considered  as  Gov'r — had  presumed  to  act  as 
such — and  had  manifested  an  intention  to  sustain 
his  Gubernatorial  character  by  force  of  arms.  On 
this  Indictment,  he  was  tried  by  a  Court,  now  ad 
mitted  on  all  sides  to  have  been  a  Constitutional 
and  competent  Court,  and  a  R.  I.  Jury,  impannelled 
according  to  law,  and  standing  above  all  challenge. 

Mr.  Dorr  was  convicted  of  treason,  by  this  competent 
Court,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life. 

Now,  an  action  is  brought  in  Court  of  U.  S.  and  here 
by  appeal,  in  which  the  attempt  is  to  prove,  that 
Mr.  Dorr  was  no  traitor,  nor  insurrectionist ;  but 
the  real  Gov'r  of  the  State  at  the  time.  That  the 
force  used  by  him  was  exercised  in  defence  of  the 
Constitution  and  Laws,  not  against  them ;  that  the 
treasonable  force  was  really  on  the  other  side;  and 
that  the  Supreme  Court  of  R.  I.  made  rather  an 
important  mistake.  Gov'r  King,  if  any  body, 
should  have  been  tried  for  treason,  and  Mr.  Dorr 

VOL.  II.  13 


290  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

regarded  as  the  Defender  of  the  Constitution  and 
Laws. — Certainly,  this  is  a  considerable  mistake ! 
_  quite  a  wrong  casting  of  character! — King  Lear. 

This  gives  vivacity  to  the  dulness  of  Judicature ! 

It  enlivens  the  drudgery  of  perusing  Briefs,  Demur 
rers,  and  Pleas  in  Bar,  Bills  in  Equity  and  answers. 

"  Handy-dandy." 

Change  places — handy-dandy — "which  is  the  Justice 
and  which  is  the  thief,"  which  is  the  Gov.  and 
which  the  rebel  ? 


This  discussion  not  to  he  regretted. 

American  Liberty  has  an  Ancestry,  a  Pedigree,  a  His 
tory. 

The  Settlers  of  Plym.  and  Jamestown  were  English 
men  ;  leaving  oppression  and  misrule,  but  bring 
ing  all  the  buds,  and  blossoms,  and  fruits  of  civil 
and  religious  Liberty,  at  that  time  to  be  had. 

Hab  Cor :  trial  by  jury.— Forms  of  Gov.  were  to  be 
new. 

They  had  close  and  controlling  colonial  feelings,  but 
they  had  also  English  feelings;  learning,  tastes, 
literature,  and  prejudices. 

They  suffered  by  the  tyranny  of  James  the  Second ; 
and  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  Revo  of  1688 — 
Mass — 

"With  the  Decla  of  Independence,  they  departed  from 
the  political  maxims  and  example  of  England,  and 
pursued  a  course  more  exclusively  American. 

They  adapted  their  conduct  to  their  new  condition, 
and  framed  systems  accordingly,  changing  what 
needed  change,  arid  leaving  the  rest. 

The  Govts  had  all  now  become  entirely  popular. 

There  was  no  longer  any  allegiance  to  the  Crown. 

Constitutions  were  to  be  formed,  conformable  to  this 
new  state  of  things. 

Where  the  form  of  Govt  was  already  well  enough, 
they  let  it  alone;  where  necessary  they  reformed  it. 

Every  where,  and  in  all  things,  they  acted  in  a  true 
conservative  spirit. 

Whatever  was  valuable  they  retained  ;  whatever  else 
was  essential,  they  added, > and  no  more. 


HIS    BRIEFS.  291 


AMERICAN   PRINCIPLES. 

1. — The  People  are  the  source  of  all  political  power;  Govt 
is  instituted  for  their  good ;  and  its  members  are 
their  agents  and  servants.  The  people  exercise 
their  power  by  regulated  suffrage. 

53IP  Nobody  denies  this,  and  therefore  nobody  need 
argue  it. 

"When  counsel  insists  on  this,  they  insist  on  what  no 
one  doubts. 

Where  else  can  there  be  power,  in  such  a  country  as 
this? 

Why  make  a  merit,  of  maintaining  what  no  man 
denies  ? 

— no  crown — no  Lords — 

2. — As  the  people  cannot,  in  a  mass,  exercise  political 
power,  they  establish  Govts ;  conferring  on  them 
so  much  authority  as  they  please.  People  only 

act,  by  suffrage,  and  Representation both  to  be 

carefully  secured. 

In  a  general  sense  the  Sovereignty  is  with  the  People  ; 
but  the. organized,  acting  Sovereignty,  to  the  ex 
tent  the  people  claim,  is  in  their  Govts. 

Legislation  is  a  sovereign  power ;  it  is  not  exercised 
by  the  People  directly,  but  intrusted  by  them  to 
their  own  Govts  created  by  themselves. 

Chief  Justice  Jay's  paradox  "Subjects  &  Citizens." 

A  STATE.     Judge  Durfee. 

The  People  limit  their  Govts,  in  all  their  branches; 
and  they  occasionally  limit  themselves  :  as  in  cases 
of  not  alt'g  constitution  without  2//3rds. 

That  is,  they  impose  restraints,  on  sudden  impulses  of 
mere  majorities. 

Constitution  U.  S.  Art.  5,  mode  of  Amendment.     Mr. 
Whipple'a  Statement— 4  vs  16  millions 
— again  the  Senate— The  treaty-making  power. 
— power    in    impeachments.       Confederation    9 

States  necessnry. 
3. — Having  thus  established  Constitutions,  according  to 
their  own  pleasure,  and  established  Departments, 
they  carry  on  the  Govt.  by  REPRESENTATION. 

This  is  a  great,  the  groat,  distinctive  character,  of  Ame- 


292  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

rican  Liberty.     It  differs  from  every  tiling,  that 
has  gone  before  it. 

Difference  between  our  principle  of  representation  and 
that  of  England,  in  its  origin. 

4. — The  right  of  Representation  is  to  be  strictly  secured 
and  guarded ;  as  it  is  the  main  political  right  of 
every  man. 

Here,  again,  the  People  limit  themselves. 

1.  In  the  qualification  of  the  persons  to  be 

elected  ;  in  regard  to  age,  residence,  and 
property. 

2.  The  qualification  of  voters  in  the  same 
respects. 

Every  \vhere,  there  are  some  qualifications, 
of  electors  and  elected. 

This  Election  of  Reps,  is  regulated,  by  laws  previously 
passed.  Elections  are  to  be  at  stated  times,  in  fixed 
places,  conducted  by  sworn  officers  of  the  Law,  in 
forms  prescribed,  viva  voce,  or  by  ballot ;  and  these 
officers  are  bound  to  prevent  all  fraudulent  prac 
tices,  to  receive  the  votes  of  all  legal  Electors,  and 
of  none  others.  This  is  the  American  System. 
This  is  our  mode  of  ascertaining  the  will  of  the 
People,  and  there  is  no  other. 
Hitherto,  it  has  worked  admirably.  Maine  and 
Louisiana  act  together. 
=**  20  millions  of  People. 

If  any  thing  has  stood  for  the  public  will,  not  thus 
ascertained,  the  case  is  an  anomaly. 

At  the  Revolution,  Legislative  bodies  assembled,  irreg 
ularly,  from  necessity;  as  in  England  in  1688. 

Men  cannot  get  together — count  themselves — say  they 
are  hundreds  or  thousands — judge  of  their  own 
qualifications,  call  themselves  the  People — and  then 
proclaim  alterations  of  the  fundamental  law,  or 
any  other  law. 

/  do  not  so  understand  the  American  Principle. 

This  regular  action,  by  popular  representation,  unites 
liberty  with  order.  To  strength  it  adds  security. 


HIS    BRIEFS.  293 


Flowing  in  this  regular  channel,  the  public  will  is  at 
once,  irresistible  and  calm. 

Sir  John  Denman. 

Who  would  wish  this  to  be  otherwise  ? 

"Who  wishes  a  tempestuous,  stormy,  violent  liberty, 
without  power,  except  in  its  spasms;  tumultuary, 
mobocratic,  terrifying  the  timid,  and  alarming  the 
prudent :  A  South  American  Liberty ;  supported 
by  arms,  to-day  :  crushed  by  arms  to-morrow. 

5. — There  is  another  principle  of  American  Liberty,  of  the 
highest  importance,  and  directly  applicable  to  this 
case. 

"When,  in  the  course  of  events,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  People,  on  a  new  exi 
gency,  or  a  new  state  of  things,  or  of  opinion,  the 
Legislative  power  provides  for  that  ascertainment, 
by  an  act  of  Legislative  power. 

Cons,  of  U.  8.  Act  of  old  Congress.  Laws  of  the 
States,  in  calling  conventions. 

This  is  the   uniform  mode,  in  proposing  changes  of 
Govt.  as  in  other  cases. 
Wisconsin — Iowa — Michigan — Maine. 

The  old  Constitutions  have  been  so  changed. 

The  old  Thirteen.— None  but  N".  H.  had  a  provision, 
for  change. 

What  State  has  ever  changed  its  Constitution  ~but  in 

this  way  ? 
There  must  he  some  authentic  mode  of  ascertaining  the 

Will  of  the  People. 

Else,  all  is  anarchy. 

The  existing  Legislature  only  can  prescribe  that  mode. 
All  this  proves  no  affinity  of  our  System  with  the  Doc 
trines  of  the  HOLY  ALLIANCE. 
State  the  DIFFERENCE. 
N.  York  Act  of  1845  exemplifying  the  whole. 
Bear'ng  of  Con.  U.  S.  on  this. — To  ensure  Domestic 

tranquily. — U.  S.  shall  guarantee  to  the  States  Rep. 

form  Govt. 

Art.  4,  §  4. 

Act  of  Feb.  28,  1T95. 

VOL.  II.  13* 


294 


MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 


1  vol.  S.  at  L.  p.  424. 
ch.  36. 

This  means  of  course,    insurrection   ag't   an  exisVng 
Govt.      A  new  Govt.  cannot  displace    the  old,  l>y 
force,  or  insurrection. 

The  Exist'g  Govt.  is  the  Govt.  which  U.  S.  must  pro 
tect.  It  is  said,  that  these  two  things  together, 
tie  up^  the  hands  of  the  People. 

If -the  existing  Legislature  will  not  begin  reform,  and 
if  Congress  must  take  the  side  of  the  existing  Govt. 
then  people  can  never  reform  their  Govt. 
It  would  be  just  the  same  thing,  and  is  just  the  same 
thing,  if  reform  begins  out  of  doors,  with  mobs  and 
multitudes. 
If  the  existing  Govt.  held  on,  and  resist,  Congress  is 

bound  to  protect  it  against  force. 
But  how  does  this  E.  I.  mode  of  proceeding  help  the 
matter.     If  the  existing  Govt.  does  not  yield,  U.  IS. 
must  support  it. 
Luther  v.  Borden  et  als. 

Decl'n  that  Def  dts  broke  and  entered  Plf. 
house,  in  Warren,  R.  I.,  on  the  25th  of  June, 
1842,  and  disturbed  his  family,  &c. 
That  large  numbers  of  men  were  in  arms, 
for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the  Govt. 
of  the  State;  and  made  Avar  upon  the 
States. 

That  for  the  preservation  of  the  State,  the 
Gov.  and  the  people,  martial  law  was  de 
clared  by  competent  authority,  on  the  25th 
of  June,  '42. 

That  the  Pf.  was  aiding  and  abetting,  in  the 
attempt  to  overthrow  the  Govt. 
That  Defdts.  were  under  the  military  au 
thority  of  John  T.  Child,  a  regularly  ap 
pointed  military  officer,  and  ordered  to  take 
and  arrest  the  Pf. ;  for  which  purpose  they 
forced  the  door  of  his  house,  having  first 
been  refused  admittance. 
I  see  no  material  difference  between  1  and  2. 
The  third  Plea  sets  forth  the  act  declaring 
martial  law,  declaring  it  to  have  been  passed 
by  a  regularly  chosen  and  constitutional 


Pleadings, 

Writ,  Oct.  8, 

'42 

Plettl 

Filed  Nov.  1 
'42. 


HIS    BRIEFS.  295 


Legislature,   and  and    then  as  the  1 

and  2. 
4,     The  4th  Plea  is  general  non  cul. 

Replications.  De    sua  propria    injuria,   and 
without  such  cause. 

Proofs ;  offered  in  Nov.  1843. 
Deftlt,  offered  in  evidence ;  viz. 

I.  The  original  charter  of  R.  L,  its  acceptance,  &c. ;  and 

its  continuance  and  the  existence  of  a  regular  Govt. 
under  it,  until  1776. 

The  participation  of  R.  I.  in  Dec.  of  Ind.,  1776. 

Joined  the  Confederacy,  in  1778. 

Admitted  into  the  Union,  in  May,  1790  ;  and  has  ever 
since  been  received  and  recognized  as  one  of  the 
States  of  the  Union ;  and  that  the  Govt.  under  the 
Charter  continued,  until  adoption  of  her  present 
Constitution,  in  Nov.  1842. 

II.  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature,  and  proceedings  under 

them,  beginning  in  Jan.  '41,  for  obtaining  amend 
ments  of  the  Constitution ;  amendments  proposed, 
submitted  to  the  People  in  March,  '42,  but  rejected; 
Plf.  and  his  confederates  voting  against  them. 

III.  All  the    laws,  resolutions,  and    proceedings   of  the 

General  Assembly  under  the  Charter  Govt.  till  the 
adoption  of  the  previous  Constitution. 

IV.  The  plf.,  with  a  large  No.  of  other  men,  were  assem 

bled  in  arms.  June  24,  '42  with  intent  to  destroy 
the  Govt.  by  military  force. 

Y.  The' Act  declaring  martial  law,  and  the  Govt.  Pro 
clamation.    June  25,  '42. 

VI.  That  the  Def.  was  aiding  and  abetting  the  attempts 

to  overthrow  the  Govt. 

VII.  That  Defds.  were  members  of  the  military  force, 

under  Child ;  and  Child  was  ordered  to  arrest  suspi- 

VIII.  cions  persons ;  and  that  Child  ordered  Defts.  to  en- 

IX.  ter  Pits,  house,  if  necessary,  to  take  plf;  and  that 

X.  they  did  so ;  and  that  the  town  of  Warren  was 

XI.  then  in  danger  of  an  attack. 

And  the  Plf.  to  maintain  the  issue  on  his  part,  offered 
in  evidence  the  following  matters,  facts,  and  things,  viz : 

1.  Proceedings  of  Assembly  in  1790.     A. 

2.  Kept,  of  Coram.  of  II.  of  R.     June  1829.     B. 

3.  Resolutions  of  Genl.  Assembly,  Jan.  '41.    C. 


296  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

4.  Memorial  of  Elisha  Dillingham  et  als.     D. 

5.  Thnt  in   '40   and  '41,   associations   were   formed, 

called  "  Suffrage  Associations,"  to  diffuse  informa 
tion  on  question  of  forming  a  written  constitu 
tion  ;  and,  to  prove  this,  offered  testimony  of 
officers  and  members,  and  a  declaration  of  princi 
ples,  February,  '41  ;  and  proceedings  of  a  meeting, 
April  13,  '41 ;  and  witnesses  to  prove  that  a 
portion  of  the  people  assembled  at  Providence, 
April  17,  '41,  under  a  call  from  Suffrage  Associa 
tion  ;  and  to  prove  proceedings  by  chairman  and 
members.  E. 

6.  A  mass  convention,  May  5,  '41,  of  4,000  and  up 

wards,  at  Newport,  when  resolutions  were  passed. 
F. 

7.  That  convention  adjourned  to  July  5,  '41,  at  Provi 
dence,    wrhen  6,000    assembled,    21    years   old   or 
upwards,     free     male     inhabitants.       Resolution 
marked  G. 

8.  Resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  May,  1841—2  ; 

and  bill  presented,  and  proceedings  thereon.  H. 
a.  H.  b. 

9.  Minority  report  of  committee,  June,  '41.      I.  a. 
I.  b. 

10.  That  State  committee  of  mass  convention  notified 
the  town  to  appoint  delegates  to  a  convention,  to 
form  a  constitution.     Ja.  J.  b. 

11.  Notice  published. 

12.  Committee  enlarged. 

13.  S.  H.  Wales  and  others  present. 

14.  In  Aug.  '41,  citizens  of  the  State  met,  in  the  sev 
eral  towns,  to  choose  delegates ;  offered  chairman  to 
prove  Nos.,  ballots,  &c. 

16.  Delegates  met,  Oct.,  '41 ;  drafted  a  constitution, 
and  submitted  it  to  the  people ;  and  adjourned  to 
Nov.,  '41 ;  to  be  proved  by  minutes  or  records. 

16.  Delegates  met  again  in  Nov.  '41 ;  completed  drafts, 
and  submitted   it    to    the   people  for   adoption, 
&c.  &c. 

17.  Meetings   held,    and    proceedings    offered   to   be 
proved  by  moderators,  &c. 

18.  Convention   met   January  12,    '42,   and  counted 
votes :  and  the  citizens  of  the  State  found  to  have 


HIS    BRIEFS.  297 


ratified,  &c. ;  and  constitution  pronounced  to  be 
law  of  the  land;  and  proclamation  to  bo  made, 
&c. 

19.  Proclamation  made,  &c. 

20.  Constitution  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority  of 
the  male  people  of  the  State,  21  yrs.  old,  and  quali 
fied  to  vote  under  the  constitution. 

21.  Copy  of  the  constitution. 

22.  Officers  elected  under  the  new  constitution,  April, 
1842. 

23.  New  gov't  assembled,  May,  '42;   and  copies  of 
proceedings. 

24.  Copy  of  U.  S.  Census. 

25.  Certificate  of  No.  votes,  polled  in  the  State,  for 
10  yrs. 

26.  Act  of  Assembly  under  charter  gov't  to  provide 
for  a  convention,  June,  '42. 

Rulings  of  the  court,  p.  20. 

P.  20.  Convention  resolved  the  people's  constitution 

was  adopted,  '42,  Jan.  13.     Proclamation,  144. 

On  the  18  April  elected  officers. 
22.  And  3d  of  May,  '42,  Tuesday,  organized,  and  the 

constitution  then  and  there  became  the  rightful 

constitution  of  the  State. 
112.  Legislature  met  (Dorr)  May  3d. 
127.  Adjourned  on  the  4th,  to  meet  at  Providence,  1st 

Monday  in  July. 


And  never  word  spake  more.  They  never  reas 
sembled. 

The  present  constitution  was  adopted  Nov.  5, 
1842,  to  go  into  operation  1st  Tuesday  in  May,  '43. 
Vide  resolution  of  convention,  and  by  the  people, 
21,  2  and  3  of  Nov'r. 

So  that  according  to  Def.,  from  May,  '42  to  May,  '43, 
no  acting  gov't. 

Now  Dorr's  trial. 

Thos.  TV.  Door  was  indicted  for  treason,  in  Sup.  Court 

of  B.  Island,  and  tried  April  26,  '44. 
17.  Indictments  stated,  p.  17. 


298  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

18.  Treason,  May  17,  '42,  1  ct. 

"    18,          2cts. 
"      June  26,         3  cts. 

"    27, 

Pleaded  not  guilty,  submitting  to  jurisdiction. 
Judge's  charge — read  as  marked. 

My  points  are  now  three. 

lst._  That  the  matters  offered  to  be  proved  by  deft 
in  court  below  are  not  of  judicial  cognizance, 
and  proof  of  them,  therefore,  was  properly  rejected 
by  the  court. 

2.  That  if  all  were  proved,  they  would  amount  to  no 
defence,  as  they  show  nothing  but  an  illegal  at 
tempt  to  change  the  government  of  K.  Island. 

3.  That  no  proof  was  offered  to  show  that  in  fact 
another  government  had  been  established  and  gone 
into  operation,  by  which  the  charter  gov't,  as  it 
has  been  called,  had  become  displaced. 

1.  The  matters  alleged  in  defence,  are  not  of  judicial  cogni 

zance. 

1.  Deft,  asserts  a  change  of  sovereignty;  for  to  some 
extent  the  States  are  sovereign. 

State  that. 
He  offers  to  prove  this,  by  parole,  as  a  fact. 

It  cannot  be  so  proved. 

That  is  a  matter  which,  if  it  be  of  general  notoriety,  the 
Court  may  possibly  take  notice  of  itself,  but  it  is  a 
matter  in  which  the  Court  must  look  to  the  acts  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  their  public  pro 
ceedings. 

The  Executive  Government  in  '42  recognized  p.  12,  the 
continuance  of  the  old  government. 
The  Senate  and  House. 

2.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  Court  cannot  settle 
such  questions.     For  example, 

Nos.  12,  14,  20. 
This  last  the  most  important. 
The  Court  was  asked  to  try 

1.  How  many  persons  voted  for  the  new  Con 

stitution. 

2.  Whether  they  were  all  qualified  voters. 


ins  BRIEFS.  299 


3.  Whether  a  majority  of  all  qualified  persons 

voted. 
And  this  he  offered  to  prove. 

1.  By  production  of  votes  and  ballots. 

2.  By  production  of  registers,  which  registers 
were  made  by  no  legal  officers. 

3.  By  testimony  of  witnesses. 

4.  To    prove   the   new    Constitution,   not   by 
official  record  but  by  parole. 

Now  these  are  things  into  which  no  Court 
can  inquire — vide  Judge  Durfee. 

5.  The  continuance  of  the  old  Government  in 
full  operation  till  the  new  legal  Constitution 
went  into  effect  in  1843,  May,  and  the  deci 
sion  of  R.  I.  itself  by  its  Supreme  Court  in 
Mr.  Dorr's  case,  precludes  all  inquiry  into 
any  such  matter  as  Pltf.  offered  to  prove. 

II.  Evidence  offered  only  proved  an  illegal  attempt   to 

overturn  the  Govt. 

1.  It  was  ILLEGAL  according  to  all  American  principle 

and  precedent. — It  attempted  to  subvert  a  Govt. 
by  force. 

All  previous  proceedings,  mass  meetings,  committee  •, 
amounted  to  nothing,  not  having  a  regular  origin  ; 
and  the  attempt  was  therefore  nothing  less  than 
to  take  the  Govt.  by  force. 

It  was  an  insurrection — just  such  as  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  arid  the  laws  denounce. 

2.  It  has  been   declared   illegal   by   R.  Island ;    her 
Govt.  has  proclaimed  it  to  be  Rebellion.    Her  legis 
lature  has  passed  laws,  punishing  those  concerned 
in  any  form,  and  some  of  them  as  for  treason,  and 
her  highest  Jud.  Tribunal  has  tried  sundry  persons ; 
found  them  guilty,  punished  some,  and  the  rest  have 
escaped  under  general  pardon. 

Can  this  Court  receive  acts  in  justification  of  Pltf. 
which  have  thus  been  stamped  and  marked  as  cri 
minal  by  the  proper  judicial  authority  ? 

III.  No  proof  that  another  Gov't.  Avas  established  and 

went  into  operation. 
Reason  for  making  this  point. 
Recur  ajrain  to  May  3  and  4, 42-G1,  page  127.     These 

new  functionaries   never  exercised  a  single  act  of 


300  MEMORIALS    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

power — they  sued  nobody — served  no  civil  pro 
cess — laid  no  tax — confined  themselves  to  paper 

and  broke  up  May  4 — admitting  it  was  all  a  misera 
ble  sham. 


I  do  not  think  it  to  be  regretted,  that  the  case  hag 

been  brought  here — however  impossible  for  this 

Court  to  try  the  question. 
It  is  truly  said,  the  case  calls  for  discussion  of  our 

American  system  of  liberty. 
It  will  bear  discussion  and  improve  by  it. 
It  has  been  pretty  well  tried,  and  thus  far  escaped 

from  dangers   on  both   sides. — Scylla  and   Cha- 

rybclis. 


THE  END. 


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